After the Dueling
by Dena Setsuko
Summary: Pairings: Seto x Shizuka. UPDATED CH 25 on 1/2012. Jounouchi is finally released from jail...and Seto and Shizuka realize their love even further than before in a dirty game. MATURE WARNING
1. Meeting Shizuka Kawaii

After The Dueling (working title) A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -  
  
Chapter 1: "Meeting Shizuka Kawaii"  
  


"Finally, my last year at this stupid high school," Seto Kaiba thought to himself as he rode in his private limousine, "They make school work too easy here. It's a damn shame I'm only 17 and can't get out of it. Anyway, once I get this law requirement to go to school out of the way, I can go back to running my company and..."  
  
"Seto! Aren't you so excited?? This is your last year in high school!" his younger brother Mokuba exclaimed, interrupting his thoughts.  
Trying his best not to become irritated, he replied, "No, I'm relived Mokuba. I can't stand going to school."  
  
"Why's that onii-san?" he asked.  
  
He shook his head and didn't reply to him.  
Mokuba frowned and looked down at the floor. Over the past year, he was beginning to see a side of Seto he had never seen before. He was still protective and loving of his little brother, but as time went on he seemed to be getting colder and colder.   
He remembered that one day in class he had learned how some people shut themselves off to the world and make themselves cold and distant to heal from their problems...and Seto was probably doing that to move on from the torture and abuse of Gozaboru Kaiba, their step-father. Mokuba was blinded from all of that since he loved his brother so much. But now that he was maturing, he was beginning to see everything his childhood had blinded from him.   
The limo began to slow down since the front of Domino High School was just a few blocks away. "See you later brother!" Mokuba smiled at him. In reply, Seto nodded to him and then exited the limo.  
  
He looked around and saw Yugi's friends in a crowd together, fussing over something. He hesitated at first, not being sure whether or not he should join them.   
But after a quick debate, he decided to go over and check out what was going on. As he got closer to the group, he could see what the fuss was all about.   
Someone new, yet familiar to him, was here at this school.   
  
Yugi turned around just when Kaiba was in earshot and smiled, "Hey, Kaiba! Come over here with us!"   
For an odd reason, Kaiba nodded and approached them. He used to want to avoid this group of people, but over the past year he had grown to know them and was actually able to tolerate them.   
Although he still held a grudge against Anzu Manzaki who had rubbed him the wrong way after he had saved her life and she thanked Mokuba instead of him. And he still couldn't stand Jounouchi Katsuya, since he was a weak dog that couldn't duel for shit.   
He met eye to eye with this new girl and recognized her from the airship. She was Jounouchi's younger sister. He only talked to her once, and it was when she begged him to land the airship to take care of Ryou Bakura. He barely remembered that encounter and still didn't understand why he listened to her pleads.  
"Seto Kaiba!" the girl smiled at him, "I remember you from the Battle City Tournament!" He grunted and then replied, "How could you forget me? I was the one who ran the tournament."  
  
"Yes, and you were such an impressive duelist!" she smiled at him.   
"Well of course," Seto began, giving a slight smirk, "I am one of the top duelists in the entire world."   
  
"A thank you would be enough, Kaiba," Tea interrupted, rolling her eyes,   
"Save it. We don't need to hear you bragging."   
He gave Tea a cold stare and then let go what she said. She was just a stupid girl to him who ranted on about friendship and whatnot, so it was no use getting worked up over her.   
  
"So what's up, Kaiba?" Honda asked, "How was summer?"   
Seto grunted and replied, "Work at the company. That is all. I don't take summer vacations."   
  
Honda nodded while thinking the back of his mind, "He must be some kind of work-a-holic."  
  
As everyone talked amongst themselves, Shizuka and Seto met eye to eye again and looked at each other for a moment.   
"What the hell are we staring at each other for?" he thought after he realized he was practically gazing into her beautiful eyes like a fool. He quickly looked away as he saw Jounouchi coming by.   
"Hey Kaiba." Jounouchi said as he joined everyone, walking over to his sister. He put his hand on her shoulder and told Kaiba, "This is my sister, Shizuka Kawaii. She's in the sophomore class." Seto nodded to her politely and she nodded back.   
  
"Now Kaiba, don't mess with her," Jou warned him, "You lay a finger on her and I-"  
"What do you take me for?!" Kaiba began, clearly insulted.   
"I don't know, but I don't like ya, and I don't trust ya." Jou replied.   
"The feeling is mutual, Jounouchi." He replied, giving him a cold stare.   
  
Shizuka felt her spirits drop as the two gave looks of dissent to one another. She remembered that Jou and Kaiba were always fighting with each other and were like rivals. She didn't know why Seto was so easily able to anger her brother and vise versa.   
  
"Would you two just knock it off?" Tea groaned in annoyance.   
"Yea, it would be nice if you two could tolerate each other for once." Yugi added, a sweat drop rolling down his face.   
  
"I shouldn't have to tolerate anything from this mutt..." Seto said as he turned his back on everyone, "I think I'll just be on my way now. I have better things to do then to be around losers like you." With that he turn he did exactly as he said and walked off.   
  
"Ah who cares about him anyway, right?" Honda winked at Shizuka, putting his arm around her shoulder.   
Shizuka laughed a bit and then said, "Yea..." Just then, the bell rang for school to begin and they all went inside.  
  
- - -  
  
When lunch rolled around for Shizuka, she was relived to finally see the familiar faces of her friends. They waved to her as she smiled and began to approach them. As she continued to scan across the cafeteria, she noticed Seto sitting by himself with his laptop computer.   
Otogi got up from his chair and took Shizuka gently by the arm, "This way my dear, come sit with us!" Shizuka laughed as Otogi led her to the table, forgetting about Kaiba for the moment.   
"Hey girl! What's going on?" Anzu smiled at her, drinking her fat-free milk.   
  
"Well nothing much, just got out of English class." Shizuka smiled, setting her lunch tray down. "Hope you don't have Mr. Kanzaki!" Honda exclaimed, "That teacher is the pits! I nearly failed that class because of him!"   
"Oh yea! I remember that!" Jou laughed, "He couldn't stand ya at all!"   
"Please don't bring me back to those days." he sighed. Shizuka laughed and then drank some of her Orange Juice.   
  
"Nope, I have Ms. Nujori," she finally replied, "She's a new teacher. She's pretty easy. I only have one assignment from her."  
"No kiddin'." Honda replied as he munched on his homemade sandwich.   
"I hope they ain't goin' hard on ya on the first day." Jou said, "I hate it when teachers do that."   
"Well actually, several of my teachers have given me at least three assignments to start with. And I have to study for a test that's coming up this Friday." She said.   
"That sucks!" Otogi said, frowning, "Well, hopefully it won't be like that all year."   
"It probably will be," Honda said, rolling his eyes, "It always is hard to get through school."  
  
"Maybe it is for you since you're such a baka." Otogi snickered at him.  
"What did ya say?!" he exclaimed. Jounouchi started laughing and put his arm around his sister, making sure she didn't feel left out at any time.   
  
While they continued to argue, Shizuka found herself looking over towards Kaiba, who was still sitting by himself at his laptop. Not a single soul was with him. She wondered what would it be like to live in solitude like that, with no friends.   
  
The thought didn't exactly warm her heart.   
  
She began to pity Kaiba, knowing he was missing out. "Hey sis," Jou said to her, "What are you looking at?"   
"Oh! Umm, nothing." She smiled, "I was just spacing out." Jou nodded and continued talking to everyone as Anzu was looking in the direction Shizuka was staring at.   
  
She caught a glimpse of Kaiba, no doubt at his laptop as always. Anzu wondered if Shizuka was interested in Kaiba. She seemed to be interested in talking to him in the morning, although Seto didn't seem to care. She would ask her that night on the phone and find out for sure. 


	2. Chance Encounter

After The Dueling (working title) A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -  
  
Chapter 2: "Chance Encounter"  
  
"Well, now that the day is over with, I can finally get back to work. Doing something that will actually benefit my life," Seto Kaiba thought to himself as he waited for his limo outside of school, "The one thing that slightly interested me was that...Shizuka Kawaii. But she's that dog's sister! Ugh! It disgusts me."  
The ringing of his cell phone interrupted his thoughts. He took it out quickly and turned it on answering with, "Hello?"   
"Mr. Kaiba, this is your limo driver..." the man began.  
"Yes? What is it? What is the delay?" Kaiba asked, impatience outlined in his voice.   
"Um, well you see sir there's a flat tire..." the man continued.   
  
Kaiba stressfully took his hand and ran it through his hair, "Christ...What the hell do I pay you for?!"  
"I am terribly sorry sir..."  
"You will be. Because as of right now you're fired!" Seto barked as he hung up his phone.  
Just when he was about to call for his backup, his cell phone battery died.   
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Kaiba thought to himself as his eyes slanted and got dark in anger, "What is this? My bad Karma?"  
  
"Oh, hey there!" he heard a voice call to him, "What are you still doing here at school?"  
Shizuka knew that this was fate that was bringing the two together to talk. She felt her heart pounding against her rib cage, but she knew she had to grab this chance. Any other time would be inconvenient with Otogi, Honda, and her brother spying over her. To her disappointment, however, Kaiba didn't look too happy to see her.  
  
Hesitating, he decided to answer her, "I'm here because my limo hasn't arrived yet. The driver should have been here 15 minutes ago."   
"Oh that's a shame," Shizuka laughed nervously, "So...um..."   
  
"Listen, will you just buzz off?" Seto snapped at her, "I'm not in the mood to talk to anyone, especially the sister of that Jounouchi. Why don't you go run off after him?"  
"He had to go off to work today," Shizuka replied, "And what exactly do you mean by-" "You know exactly what it means." Seto replied, crossing his arms, "Besides, your brother told me to stay away from you. Don't you-"   
"I don't know why though," she replied, moving closer to him, "I don't see anything wrong with you." As she smiled at him, with her cute childish face, he couldn't help but laugh slightly,   
"Cut it with the bullshit."   
  
"No, I'm serious." Shizuka said, looking right at Kaiba. She wanted to make it clear she wanted to be his friend. But he was making it difficult.  
"Why?" he asked her, looking right back at her, a smirk going across his face, "You know I'm not your type. You go for faggots like Honda and that Otogi."   
"Hey, you can't say that!" she said, getting offended, "You don't even know them."   
"Why would I want to know them?" he replied coldly, crossing his arms, "I..."   
  
"Well," she began, "you seemed to be able to talk to them this morning, until my brother..." "It was simple chit-chat." He replied, "Nothing more." There was a short silence before they heard the rumbling of thunder.   
"Damnit, it's going to rain now. I've wasted enough time here," he muttered to himself as he took his briefcase and stomped off. Shizuka knew she had to say something else before he left.  
  
So with the first thing that came in her mind, she shouted, "Kaiba! If you ever need a friend, just come sit with us at lunch! You don't have to type at your laptop all the time!" He stopped right in his tracks when he heard that.   
  
For the first time in several years, someone actually pitied him. That meant he was weak, he wasn't good enough, that he was failing. No. He was not a failure, and he was going to set that straight with that girl.   
He turned right around and marched back to her, anger outlined in his eyes. As he got closer to her, she looked up and saw that now his eyes were filled with fury and even a bit of pain. She backed up a bit, fearing he was going to hurt her.   
"Listen, the last thing I need from anyone is to be pitted. I don't need you or your stupid little friends."With that, he turned his back on her and left.  
  
"Why did I even bother talking to that girl?" Seto thought to himself as he entered Kaiba Corp, "She's just...anyway enough about her I have a company to run!"   
He went into the elevator and pressed in the code to go to office. As he silently waited inside, the words of Shizuka echoed in his mind. "Come sit with us at lunch...you don't always have to type at your laptop..."   
"Why am I letting her get to me?" he thought to himself as he smirked, "She's wrong! I don't need anyone! I have my powerful company!"   
But somewhere, deep within the voids of his darkened heart, there was something telling him that she was right.   
  
However, he was absolutely denying it. He had been a solitary, cold person for several years of his life since his stepfather raised him to be such a person. Nothing could ever change him. This was how he was to stay. He entered his office and saw Mokuba playing his Gameboy Advance with the newest Duel Monsters game. He was sitting on Seto's Executive chair as he always did when he wasn't around. Mokuba loved video games a lot, just like he loved the Duel Monsters card game. Duel Monsters was the only game he could ever play besides Chess.  
  
"Oh, hey bro." Mokuba said as he looked up from his game.   
"Hello Mokuba." He replied to him, loading up his laptop computer as he always did. He had to finish programming the newest Duel Monsters gear that would compete with Schraider Corporation's newest invention.   
"So, what happened today?" Mokuba asked.   
"Nothing important." He replied, not even looking up from the monitor.   
"Oh c'mon onii-san," Mokuba said, "You never tell me anything anymore. Nothing happened at all?"  
  
"Well," he regretfully began, "I met Jounouchi's sister today. Shizuka Kawaii."  
"Oh really? What was she like?" he asked, "Annoying?"   
"No, actually," he found himself saying, "...I mean yes she was annoying."   
"Seto! Don't lie to me," he sighed, rolling his eyes, "Yes or no?"   
  
"Yes." He immediately replied.   
"Really? What did she do?" he asked.   
"I...don't want to discuss it." Seto finished, not sure why he couldn't pinpoint that her pitying him was what pissed him off. Maybe it wasn't right for him to? No. It was perfectly fine.   
"She told me today that I could join her stupid group of friends at lunch if I ever wanted friends to talk to. What a load of crap. She's such a goodie good like that Anzu Manzaki."   
  
"Well, what's wrong with that?" Mokuba asked, "I like Anzu."   
"Well that's you, I for one can't stand her." He replied, "Just like that Yugi Moto...always spewing crap about friendship and support!"  
"You're just jealous because Anzu doesn't like you and-!"Mokuba began.  
"Do not bring this subject up AGAIN, Mokuba." He commanded him, looking up from his laptop, "because I do NOT, and have NEVER liked that Anzu!"   
  
"Then why do you get so angry every time we talk about her?" Mokuba asked.  
"I can't stand her! I'd prefer Shizuka Kawaii!" he barked at his brother. Did he just say that outloud? That girl who pitied him? The one who thought he was weak and helpless?   
"Actually, I'd prefer not to deal with any of those girls." He corrected.  
"What about Isis Ishtar?" his brother asked in curiosity.  
"No..." he replied, "I don't like foreign women. And besides, she pisses me off with that fate crap."   
  
"Are you going to be single all your life, Seto?" his brother asked him, "You're almost 18 years old and you still-"  
  
"Who the hell needs it, Mokuba?!" he replied, getting angry, "It's not like I've never been in love before! All they want is your money and expensive cars."   
"You don't know that!" his brother insisted.   
"Must you continue to aggravate me, Mokuba?" Seto asked him in irritation, "I have work to do."  
"Ok," Mokuba frowned, "I'll go." With that, he picked up his Gameboy Advance and left the office.  
  
"I always seem to upset him now," Seto thought guiltily to himself as he continued to program.  
  
However, there was no way he was going to let his guilt show through. 


	3. Telephone Hour

After The Dueling (working title) A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -  
  
Chapter 3: "Telephone Hour"  
  
Shizuka went into her house where her mom was waiting for her, watching TV in the living room. It was most likely one of those corny soap operas Shizuka couldn't stand.   
"Hello, Shizuka," the mother called to her, getting up from the sofa, "How was your first day at school?"   
"It was...fine," Shizuka replied, softly smiling at her mother, "I need to go upstairs and get started on my homework."   
"You do that sweetheart, make me very proud," she said to her daughter, giving her a peck on the cheek. Shizuka bowed slightly and then walked up the stairs, going into her room.   
  
As soon as she got inside, her phone began to ring. She quickly walked over and picked up.   
"Hello?" she answered.   
"Hey sis, what's up?" her brother replied on the other end, "Just wanted to check up on ya before going with Mai...." She heard some noise in the background before Jou said, "Oh, Mai says 'Hey sweetie'."   
"Tell her 'Hey you too'." Shizuka replied, smiling, "So?"   
"How was getting' home for ya?" Jou asked, "Didn't run into any trouble did ya?"   
"Well, no. Not at all," Shizuka said, "I just walked home and that was it."   
"Didn't run into Kaiba did ya?" Jou asked, jokingly. Shizuka felt a tight feeling in her stomach forming. He was right on target, although his tone was in a joking matter.   
"Na, he's never around after school," Jou finished.   
"Heh. Yea." Shizuka laughed, breathing a slight sigh of relief.   
"Well, I'll talk to ya later sis, Gotta catch the movie. Love ya!" Jou said.   
"Love ya back! Bye!" Shizuka said, as they both hung up the phone simultaneously.  
  
She felt guilty not telling her onii-san the truth. She always confided in him when something was bothering her. The way Kaiba talked to her was something she'd never seen before. It was anger, but yet, underlining sadness. Why was he so defensive if someone just wanted to help him? Was he really as cold as everyone thought of him to be? He probably was, but her heart told her something different.   
As she went to lie down on her pillow before starting her homework, the phone began to ring again. Reaching over to the side of her bed, she picked up the phone and answered, "Hello?"  
"It's Anzu," the other line replied, "What's up girl?"   
"Hey, nothing much, just got back from school..." she trailed off.   
"Oh yea?" Anzu replied.   
"Mhmm." Shizuka said, "Was about to do my homework..."   
"Were you talking to Kaiba after school?" she bluntly asked.   
  
"W-what?? How did you know?" she asked, dumbfounded.   
"Silly," Anzu laughed, "Me and Yugi were hanging out with Ryou after school. His school bus was running late as always. Yugi spotted you with Kaiba and we watched you for a while. He seemed interested from what we saw, it was like he wanted to talk to you."  
"Are you kidding me?" Shizuka sighed, "He doesn't like me at all."   
"Why? What happened? Did he say something to you?" she asked, angrily, "And if so, what?"  
"I told him if he ever wanted to come sit with us he could." She simply replied, "He got ticked off over that. But I believe he doesn't have to sit at lunch and type at his laptop all the time. He seems to work so hard as it is. He seems miserable."  
"Kaiba's like that though," she replied, "He's always working on his computer for his business. It's the only thing that matters to him next to his brother Mokuba."   
"Well...I just," she trailed.   
"I know, you meant well Shizuka, "Anzu began, "But trust me on this one: he's been like this for as long as we've all known him. You can't change him. No one can. His heart is nothing but stone."  
"I...I don't believe that," she said, "I believe...he just needs help. We need to help Kaiba." "Shizuka," she began, "You have it bad for him, don't you?"  
"No! Don't be so dramatic," she sighed in annoyance, "I just happen to like him and want to be his friend."   
"Why?" she asked, "He's a jerk who doesn't deserve attention. You got Otogi and Honda as friends."   
"I don't agree. And Kaiba's not the jerk he seems to be." She replied.  
  
"Whatever fantasy world you're living in Shizuka," she warned her, "Get out of it...fast. There must be some kind of an infatuation you have with him..."   
"No!" Shizuka exclaimed, "I want to help Kaiba!"   
"Does Jou know about this?" she asked.   
"Well...um...no." Shizuka said.  
"Talk with him through it, and then decide." Anzu said.  
"You know that will just make him force me to stay away from him!" she replied.   
  
"Maybe it would be for your own good," she said, "I mean, come on..."  
"Anzu, if you're not going to support me, then why do you even care whether or not we talk?" Shizuka asked.   
"I was just curious. That's all," she answered, "And if you want to get closer to him, heed my warning: don't try to change him. Because he won't."   
"What if I prove you wrong?" she threatened.   
"You can't prove me wrong, it's impossible." She replied. There was a long silence over the phone.   
"Well, whatever," Anzu sighed as well, giving up, "Just be careful, ok Shizuka? I wont tell Jou unless he hurts you."   
"Ok...thanks." She replied, "I've got to go do my homework now."   
"Yea, yea," Anzu laughed, "Goodnight!"  
"Goodnight." She said as she hung up the phone.   
  
"Shizuka honey?" Her mother said, opening her door, "It's almost dinner- time. Quit the chatting and get started on your work please."  
"Hai." Shizuka said, getting up from her bed and getting out her things.  
  
It was midnight by the time Seto got home to his mansion. He spent several long hours programming, and the project was still nowhere near to perfection. He kept telling himself he should have stayed at Kaiba Corp. overnight, but he wanted to check up on Mokuba, who he had not heard from since the afternoon. As if on cue, his brother answered the door. By habit, Seto put down his suitcase to receive his daily hug from his brother.   
"Hey Seto," Mokuba said as he gave a small smile at him and then turned away back inside. Seto frowned as he watched his brother. Because of his outburst, Mokuba was in a sad mood.   
"Hello Mokuba." He replied to him as he closed the door. Mokuba didn't respond. He continued to sit on the couch and watch a European cooking channel out of boredom. Seto thought it would be best if he just left his brother be for now. By the next morning, he would have forgiven him.  
He walked up his stairs as he thought about the events of the day. He met Shizuka, he worked all day to program something that didn't come out right, he had that Shizuka pity him when he didn't need it, and the rest of the day was just blur to him. It was like that for him most of the time. And when there wasn't a Tournament going on, he would begin to think to himself.  
It was something he did not like at all. He felt like throwing together another Tournament, but he didn't want to put behind even more of his work at Kaiba Corp.   
"My room..." Seto thought, sighing to himself as he entered the master bedroom, "A place I am hardly ever in."   
He looked at the grand bed that was before him. He wasn't that tired, and yet he felt like lying in that luxurious bed and sleeping in it for several hours. He never did though. When he did sleep, it was usually for at least 3 hours or even less. His stepfather's training had programmed his body to act like that.   
  
"You can't always be typing on that laptop!"   
  
"You're damn wrong..." Seto thought to himself as he yet again blocked Shizuka's voice out of his mind, putting his suitcase away.  
  
"If you ever need a friend..."  
  
"A friend? What the hell do I need a friend for?" Seto asked himself, "All you need is your family...your flesh and blood. And I have that. I still do. I may have lost my father and mother, but I still have my brother."   
  
"Seto!"   
  
"Shut up." He thought to himself, blocking out her voice. He decided to throw himself on his bed so he could go to sleep and forget about her. He closed his eyes and drifted off into slumber.   
  
When he awoke the next morning at around 4 AM, he had finally stopped thinking of her... 


	4. Apology Accepted

After The Dueling (working title) A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -  
  
Chapter 4: "Apology Accepted"  
  
"Hey Shizuka!" Honda shouted to her as he rode up on his motorcycle, "Need a ride to school?"  
"That would be great!" she smiled back at him. She got on the back of the bike and clung onto Honda as he started off and rode. She loved riding on motorcycles. She felt so wild and free like a bird. And although her brother hated her riding on one without protective gear, she trusted Honda to take her safely to her destination.  
  
Before she knew it, they were at the school, where Otogi, Anzu, Ryou, and Yugi were waiting for them.  
"Hey guys!" Anzu called.  
"Yo!" Honda called back, waving. He looked over Shizuka's body as she brushed off her shirt and skirt, but then quickly looked away when he heard Jounouchi calling, "Hey Honda!"  
  
Shizuka looked towards her right for a moment and saw the Kaiba limo pulling up. Forcing herself to look away from him, she turned to Honda and Jou who were "play fighting" with each other.  
  
Forcing himself to look away from her, Kaiba stepped out of the limo with his suitcase and began walking towards the school building. He stepped inside to the hallways, which were always deserted in the morning before school started, and headed straight towards the computer lab. That was where his first hour was located, and it was convenient for him.   
While he was in there, he was able to continue working on his programming for work, and still be able to complete the simple assignments his class had. This school was too easy for him, and it bored him to the point of no return.  
  
The rest of Kaiba's day before lunchtime proved boring and tedious as well. He finished all of his class work and even did his homework while no one was looking. No one would dare rat him out though, not unless they wanted to be very sorry in the end.  
  
"I wonder if it was even that Kawaii I saw this morning," he thought to himself, "Not that I care. I'd prefer that she'd not be here."  
Although he thought that in his mind, somewhere inside he felt that he really did want to see Shizuka. But he undoubtedly, pushed this feeling away.  
  
"Today has dragged by so slowly today," Shizuka Kawaii thought to herself as she got up from her desk to go to lunch, "Thinking of yesterday has tormented me to the point of no return. Maybe I should just apologize and get back on neutral terms with Kaiba."   
  
While she was lost in her thoughts and rushing to the cafeteria, she ran into Seto Kaiba on accident. Seto was also lost in thought of his work and when he bumped into someone, he found himself looking into the hazel eyes of Shizuka. He seemed to like her eyes. She looked back into his blue eyes; they were looking at her in a strange way. It seemed to take a while before that quickly changed once Kaiba realized what was happening, and how close they were to each other, and backed off.  
  
"Watch where you're going," he snapped at her with a mean look as he turned around and kept on walking.  
Shizuka felt herself go a bright red as she watched Seto go off. She managed to get a scent of his expensive cologne while gazing into his eyes, which gave off a cooling scent.   
"Was it just me or did he seem to linger a bit too long?" she thought to herself, "I might be imagining things..."  
"What the hell just happened here?" Anzu asked her from behind, making her jump.  
'I-I don't know!" she blushed, "We just ran into each other and-"  
"He lingered." Anzu finished in disbelief. Shaking her head she took Shizuka's arm and led her towards the cafeteria.   
"Well, we better just pretend that never happened," she said, "Let's hope Jou didn't see."  
  
"What the hell just happened back there?" Seto asked himself as he entered the cafeteria, "She lingered a bit too long by me. Why didn't she back off? But, the more important question is, why didn't I back off sooner?" He didn't want to confuse himself anymore with this Shizuka Kawaii, so he went over to his table and sat down, beginning to load up his laptop computer. He would just pretend that incident never happened. And hopefully, no one noticed them.  
  
"So what's up girl?" Anzu began as she began to eat her bag of low- fat chips.  
"I've been thinking about talking to him," Shizuka began to Anzu, sipping her apple juice, "Maybe apologizing for offending him."  
"Well, if you really want to,"she began, finishing the food that was in her mouth, "What are you waiting for?"   
"I don't know if..." she began, looking down.   
"Sure you two just had an awkward moment," Anzu laughed, "But you better get over there before Jou gets here. Besides, an apology is better to give as soon as possible, rather than when it's too late."  
"I..." she began, blushing.  
"Just go do it," she pestered, "if you really want this guy for a friend or whatever, go for it." Shizuka sighed and knew her friend was right. Slowly getting up, she walked towards Kaiba, who was busily typing at his laptop computer.  
  
"Hey Anzu, where's -?" Jou asked, looking for Shizuka.   
"Her time of the month!" Anzu quickly replied, "She's on her period so she had to go to the bathroom."   
"I uh..." Jou replied, "I didn't need to know that."   
"I didn't either!" Yugi laughed nervously, a sweat drop rolling down his face.   
"Well, it's the truth!" Anzu lied.  
  
Surprisingly, as soon as she sat down, Seto looked up at Shizuka right away. He stared at her with an odd face, arching his eyebrow.  
"Um, hi." She smiled, while blushing slightly.  
"What do you want?" he asked her, impatience underlying his voice. He didn't even wait for a response before going back to typing on his laptop.  
"Well, I just wanted to..." she began, "Apologize for what just happened back there..." Seto grunted at that.   
"And also for yesterday. I didn't mean to make you mad. I take back all I said," She finished.   
"Nani?" Seto found himself asking, looking up from his laptop.   
Shizuka stood up and gave a slight bow to him, "Please accept my apology."  
  
"Is she serious?" he thought to himself, looking at her, "No one has ever apologized for pitying me before...in fact...most people don't even apologize to me at all. Not that I ever cared..."   
Seto grunted and then crossed his arms, replying, "Apology accepted. Now, get back to your loser friends..."   
"Thank you very much." She bowed to him again.  
"Whatever." Seto said. With that, she turned her back on him and went over to her lunch table, where Jou was giving her an evil look.   
"Oh no! He saw!" Shizuka thought to herself, "Why did I have a bad feeling this was going to happen?" 


	5. Dont Ever Talk To My Sister Again!

After The Dueling (working title) A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -  
  
Chapter 5: "Don't Ever Talk to My Sister Again!"  
  
Seto continued to program for a short while until Otogi and Honda came over to him, tapping the table. He grunted in annoyance when he saw the two, and then stood up, closing his laptop.  
"What the hell do you want?" he asked.  
"What's going on between you and Shizuka?" Honda asked, "We all saw what just happened."  
"What concern is it to you?" he snapped, "Mind your own business."  
"Listen moneybags, you can't have her!" Honda snapped back, "She's my girl!"  
Seto closed his laptop and began to put it away in his suitcase.  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Otogi barked at Honda, "She doesn't even like you in that way! You're such a-"  
"I don't want to hear your petty arguments over her," Seto interrupted coldly, "So if you'll excuse me, I'll be leaving now." With that, he closed his suitcase and walked right past the two.  
He stopped when he saw Jounouchi standing in front of him, alongside Shizuka.  
"What do you want?" he asked coldly to him.  
  
"Don't be a smart ass," Jou replied, just as cold.  
"Onii-san, please," Shizuka began, "Don't..."  
"I thought I told you to stay away from my sister." Jou continued, ignoring his sister's cries.  
"Yes. You told me not to lay a finger on her," Seto began, "You never said anything about talking to her."  
"Well I'm sayin' it now! Don't talk to her ya fucker!" Joey barked, "I don't want her with the likes of you!"  
  
"Why don't you try telling her that then?!" he barked right back, "She's the one that's been talking to me!"  
"Holy crap, is that really true?!" Otogi exclaimed.  
"She knows better now!" Jou replied coldly.  
"I never said that!" Shizuka said, "I-"  
"Trust me sister, you don't want to be with the likes of him!" Jou explained, "Not with him!"  
"Yea!" Honda chimed in, agreeing.  
"Don't tell me that!" She yelled at him, "I can talk to him if I want to! He...I..."  
Seto arched his eyebrow for a moment, wondering what she was trying to say.  
  
Honda muttered while looking at Seto from the corner of his eye, "Oh my God you've gotta be kidding me...she likes him."  
"Shizuka, don't bother with this jack ass," Jou replied, "He doesn't date women. He just whacks off with his computer."  
"What did you just say?!" Seto snapped, before Shizuka could protest, "I don't think I heard you correctly."  
"I said-!" Jou began, marching towards him.  
"No Jou, stop it!" Shizuka exclaimed, pulling him back.  
  
"Are you going to let your sister hold you back?" he challenged him, "Repeat what you said to me if you're a man!"  
"Hey man, don't toy with Jou," Honda warned, "He could easily take you down!"  
"I'd like to see him try," Seto replied, challenging him even more.  
"Break it up you guys!" Anzu snapped, getting in between them, before Jou could do anything, "The deans are going to be here any minute it you don't cool it off!"  
  
"Stay out of this!" Jou and Seto barked to her.  
"No! Anzu's right, don't fight! Please!" Shizuka pleaded.  
"Keep yourself out of this, Shizuka!" Jou commanded her.  
"Jou, you don't understand!" Shizuka exclaimed, "You can't say that about him! He's someone who works hard everyday! Even at school!"  
Jou was silent for a long time as Seto looked at Shizuka in a bit of surprise. She had just gone against her brother. And although he had a feeling it was out of pity, he let it go as he waited for Jou's response.  
"Shizuka," Jou began, "Who's side are you on?! Kaiba's?!"  
  
"Maybe I am," Shizuka replied, beginning to walk away from his side.  
'Don't you dare move a step further!" Jou snapped at her, grabbing her arm. He looked her right in the eye and asked her, "You'd betray your own brother, for him?!"  
"Why is it such a betrayal to you to stand up for a friend?" Shizuka asked him, tears forming in her eyes, "I don't understand that."  
"Friend?" Kaiba asked himself, "Who said I was your friend?"  
Before Kaiba could open his mouth to say anything Jou exclaimed, "Kaiba is not your friend, Shizuka! Whether you like it or not! He doesn't have any friends, and he doesn't want em'!"  
  
The bell rang, ending the Cafeteria drama. Everyone, excluding Kaiba and the others, cleared out as if nothing had ever happened.  
  
Seto found himself searching for Shizuka after school. It was time he'd set her record straight about them being "friends". He didn't even trust her. As he waited around the school for her, he felt a tap from behind and flinched, quickly turning around to see Shizuka. Before he could yell at her, 'Don't touch me!', he saw that her eyes still had tears in them just like during lunch.  
Her brother must have given her another lecture to stay away from him. He almost felt bad for her, but knew giving pity to others was a way to let down your guard. And he never wanted to do that, ever.  
"Seto," she sniffed, "I'm sorry for wasting your time..."  
"Hmmm?" he asked, not quite hearing her, "What now?"  
"I..." she could barley contain her tears as she quietly sobbed.  
  
Seto felt uncomfortable in this situation, he never had a girl cry in front of him before. He didn't know what to say or do. He just stood there, watching her cry, unable to do anything. Perhaps it was best if he didn't do anything. He didn't want to show his fears to this girl.  
"Shizuka," he said to her, as if she were simply standing there," I think this would be a good time to tell you that... in lunch today...I think you misunderstood something."  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked, gaining control of herself, looking up into his eyes.  
"Please don't look at me." Seto thought to himself as he looked away from her.  
"You aren't," he continued, "really...my friend. In fact, I don't even like you that much to begin with. I just tolerate you like everyone else."  
  
He felt like he had just slapped her in the face. And he felt an odd sort of emptiness within him. He didn't know why. It felt even stranger than the incident on the airship. Why was he feeling this way towards Jounouchi's sister?   
"Well, you're right. I know you don't like me. And I've realized it's too soon be calling you a friend," Shizuka said, sniffing, "We've only met since yesterday. I just didn't like how my onii-san criticized you for working hard. I actually admire that."  
He felt himself smile, but he quickly erased it as he cleared his throat and covered his mouth, "I thought you were the one who told me I shouldn't be on my laptop all the time." He replied to her.  
  
"You shouldn't be, but you do anyway," Shizuka began, "You stick to your work even while you're in school. You sacrifice a lot to do what you do."  
"You're right, I do..." he trailed off, hoping he didn't hear her.  
"Don't tell her that you baka!" he thought to himself, "She'll start to pity you again!"  
There was an awkward silence as Shizuka wiped her eyes with her hands.  
  
"Well anyway, the reason why I came over here is because..." Shizuka sighed, "Jou is forcing me to tell you that I don't like you at all and I never want to speak to you again."  
Seto grunted, "How can he force you to do THAT?"  
"Well," Shizuka said, "It's bad enough I humiliated him today-"  
"He humiliated himself," Seto interrupted, "Just as you humiliated yourself."  
"Oh yes, that's right." Shizuka laughed nervously, clearly hurt by that remark. She frowned and said, "I guess...we can't be...we can't talk anymore."  
  
"I don't really care what you do," Seto said, "You can do whatever you like. "  
With that he turned around and began to walk away, just as he had done the day before.  
"But wait," Shizuka yelled to him, "What does that mean?"  
  
He stopped in his tracks and turned back around to her.  
"It means that you can still talk to me," he replied, "But I am not your friend."  
"Not yet, Seto Kaiba," Shizuka whispered quietly to herself, watching Kaiba walk away.  
What she did not know was that Kaiba had heard her whisper before he turned his back on her and left. 


	6. Shut Up

After The Dueling (working title) A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -  
  
Chapter 7: "Shut up!"  
  
Seto sighed as he walked into his office and saw Mokuba waiting for him as usual. Mokuba looked up to Seto, and paused for a moment. He then got up from his chair and asked, "Hey Seto, what happened today? You look...different."  
  
"Nothing important happened, Mokuba," Seto replied, while sitting down on his chair, taking out his laptop, "Now, I have work to do."  
"But onii-san!" he protested.  
Seto sighed as he loaded up his laptop, knowing he had to give some sort of attention to his younger brother. His programming would just have to wait.  
"Ok, fine," he said, as he turned his chair to where Mokuba sat, "I almost got into a fight with that dog."  
  
"You did?" he yelped, "What did he do?"  
"He told me that all I did was whack off on my computer," He replied.  
"What the heck does he know?!" he replied angrily, "So then what?!"  
"Then Shizuka defended me," Seto continued, "And told her own brother that I didn't deserve to be disrespected. You should have seen how pissed he became."  
  
"I'm glad, onii-san," he grinned, "That dog had no right to insult you."  
Seto grunted and smirked, replaying that moment in his mind. When he got to a certain point in his thought, he shook his head.  
"The only thing I didn't like was when she called me a friend," Seto said, rolling his eyes, "And I even explained that to her. We've only known each other for a few days, and I don't even trust her. I trust no one but you, Mokuba."  
"But...how could you say that?" Mokuba asked, frowning, "She went out of her way..."  
"Well...yes...she did," he replied, "I just...don't want her to think I like her or something. She's just another pretty face to me, nothing more."  
  
Mokuba looked at his onii-san, who was now loading up his program on the laptop to begin programming. He then noticed something, and started giggling over it.  
"What is so funny?" Seto asked his brother, looking away from his monitor for a moment.  
"If she really is just another face," his brother began, "Then why are you blushing?"  
"I'm not blushing!" he snapped, although his cheeks were slightly red, "It's heat exhaustion!"  
"You like her Seto!" he laughed, "You must! You've never blushed over a girl like this before!"  
"Shut up!" he snapped again, blushing an even brighter red.  
  
"There is no possible way I could actually like that Shizuka in that way!" he thought to himself, as his brother snickered and giggled, "Besides, she only pities me and wants to be my friend. Nothing more. And I don't even want to be friends with her...then why did I say she could still talk to me if ...what the hell am I saying?! I don't know anymore...I better just get back to work."  
  
---  
  
The following week, Kaiba found himself talking to Shizuka between classes before lunch and not minding. He even began to...become used to it. She'd talk to him about simple things like how she got a C on her test or how this one kid got in trouble. But there was one day, where she caught him off guard.  
  
"You know, I was thinking about when I was a little girl and how I used to visit the orphanage with my mother," Shizuka began, "We'd stay for like an hour talking and interacting with the older and younger children."   
Seto's expression went from cold and stiff, to a softer, surprised look. There was only one orphanage in his area of town and that was the one he lived in as a child.  
"Are you alright Seto?" she asked him.   
"It was the orphanage in this town? Correct?" Seto asked, calming down. He didn't want to show her that he didn't care about this subject.   
"Yes," she smiled at him, "I'm sure you've heard of it, since you built an entire theme park just for them."   
"I used to live there," Seto replied.  
"Oh." She said.   
"This may sound stupid..." he suddenly began, letting down his guard for the first time around her, "But now that you've mentioned this...I actually remember...talking to you once." "You're kidding?!" she exclaimed, looking up to him.  
  
When Seto looked to his left and noticed that Jou was looking over towards the two, they both realized they were standing close enough to hold hands with each other. Shizuka nodded to him and walked away, head down, towards her brother.  
  
"Look at her, keeping her head down to her brother like an obedient servant," he thought to himself as he slyly watched Jou put his arm around her shoulder and give Kaiba a dirty look, "That Jou is a amateur AND a control freak...what in the hell am I saying?! Why do I care? This is for the better! I shouldn't want to talk to that mutt's sister! It's good that he's finally keeping her away from me..." He decided to leave it at that and block off any other emotion coming in to his heart. He entered the cafeteria and headed towards his usual seat.  
  
"Sis you were doin' good for a whole week not talking to this guy," Jou began to his sister at the lunch table, "and now suddenly ya on ta him again?!"   
"Jou, I don't think you have the right to just tell her who she can and cannot talk to..." Yugi began.   
"Shut up!" Jou exclaimed.   
"Katsuya!" Anzu interfered, "Yugi is right! You can't control her and what she does. So what if she's talking to Kaiba? It's her personal business..."   
Jou interrupted by slamming his fist on the table. "I won't allow it!" he yelled, "Kaiba is a arrogant, selfish bastard who would take advantage of my sister! And I don't want them coming even and inch close to each other!"  
  
There was a silence for a long time as Yugi moved his food randomly around his plate, Anzu drank bottled water, Honda slept on the table, and Ryou ate his Mac and cheese from home. Shizuka knew it would be for the better if her and Kaiba never spoke again, but she was being drawn to him like bait and didn't care what her brother told her. She was growing up and needed to follow her own rules of life. 


	7. The Flashbacks Of Kaiba

After The Dueling (working title) A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -  
  
Chapter 7: The Flashbacks of Kaiba  
  
"Why the hell was everyone so quiet at lunch today?" Otogi asked Honda as they walked out to Gym class.  
"Jou got really pissed off that Shizuka and Seto were walking together," Honda replied, "I would be too if I saw them. I was told that they were so close they could have held hands or worse."   
"Would it really be so bad though?" he asked him, "I mean, it is so obvious she likes him! I know because...well maybe I better not tell you this."   
"What? Tell me," he commanded, "I want to know."   
"Well its just that she told me one day that she really had a crush on me," He confessed, "And ever since then I've noticed the signs. I can easily recognize when she looks interested in a person by her facial expressions and body language."  
Honda looked extremely disappointed from that comment. He couldn't believe that he couldn't win the heart of his girl. He was the one that Jou trusted, not Otogi or even Kaiba!   
"It was last year that this happened," Otogi said, "Told her that I didn't like her that way...although I do...so very much."   
"Why? Are you an idiot?!" Honda exclaimed.   
"Hey man, I did it because I know you actually love Shizuka!" he yelled at him, "It's nothing compared to a slight infatuation I have!"  
  
"Ok ladies, head on over here so we can start class!" the PE teacher called out to the two as the rest of the class laughed. The two were silent standing next to one another, wondering what they should say to the other next. Otogi broke the silence by cracking a slightly loud fart.  
"Aw man! Come on!" Honda exclaimed, backing away as the class laughed at them. "What do ya mean? That was you man!" Otogi grinned.   
"For God's sake who cares? Crack one off whenever ya like and don't be ashamed to admit it!" the teacher bellowed.  
  
---  
  
School finally ended and Shizuka headed home in a sadden spirit. Her brother was becoming like their father, controlling and over-protective. Perhaps he was always like that, but she never acknowledged it.   
Quietly opening the door, she looked over to the living room where her mom was watching a corny romantic soap opera. She shook her head and walked up the stairs to her room. She knew she had to get started on her homework, but couldn't stop thinking about how close her and Kaiba had gotten to each other again.   
And when he mentioned remembering speaking to her in the past, she had realized this as well. She spoke to an older boy once with brown hair and blue eyes similar to Kaiba's, but much wider and innocent.   
"I guess all innocence on a person's face fades in time," Shizuka silently said to herself. She tried her hardest to remember that day she spoke to him, but to her disappointment she couldn't remember at all. She couldn't really blame herself though. As Seto tended to do, she kept both painful and good memories of her past buried.  
  
---  
  
"Ryou do you want us to give you a ride home?" Anzu asked her friend as they were still sitting at the bus loop at the school, "It's already 5PM!"   
"No I don't want to burden you," he replied, "It's dishonorable!"   
"Well I'm not staying here until the crack of dawn," Anzu replied, "My mother might get annoyed, but it would be better than to leave you here alone."   
"Yea I agree," Yugi began, "By now, my grandpa might start to get concerned about me. Oh and if you really don't want to ask Anzu's mother for a ride, my gramps will let you spend the night at my place and you can call your parents from there."   
"Ok, I like that idea Yugi," Ryou smiled, "Thank you so very much."   
"It's no trouble," he smiled at his friend, "Let's head on over to my house."   
"I'm coming as well so I don't have to wait out here alone," Anzu said as she followed the others.  
  
---  
  
Seto couldn't get the thought of the little girl he spoke to the day before he challenged Gozaboru out of his mind. He began to remember the day like yesterday:   
  
"What's ya doing?" a little girl asked curiously to Seto Kaiba. The little boy looked over to the girl and smiled, replying, "Practicing Chess. It's my favorite game."   
"Is it fun?" she smiled at him.   
"Well it depends on what you like to do," Seto said.   
"I wike to go do the beach with my onii-san," Shizuka replied, "It the only time mommy and daddy don't fight."   
  
"Oh," he frowned a bit, "At least you still have your parents...mine have all died. And none of my other family would take me and my little brother in."   
"Oh no!!" Shizuka exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief.   
"Don't feel bad for me though, I'm doing just fine," he replied, with an expressionless face.   
Ending the conversation, he turned back to his chess game. Then he remembered her initial reaction. She suddenly grabbed onto him and gave him tight hug. He remembered returning the favor by wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Seto then realized he had noticed her more than once around the place. He usually was with Mokuba while she'd be playing with the kids. It seemed to be a distant memory of him being a helpless child. The only thing he was good for was to protect Mokuba. He remembered while returning Shizuka's hug, how warm and loving she felt in his arms.   
  
He immediately snapped out of it, realizing his defense was softening. "The past doesn't matter," he muttered to himself, "She's the sister of that mutt and I want nothing to do with her..."  
  
"Mr. Kaiba?" a voice on his intercom spoke.   
"Yes?" he asked   
"A man named 'Sieg' is on the phone for you."   
"For God's sake..." he muttered, sighing, "Hang up on him!! This is the 4th time he's called me this week!"   
"Yes Mr. Kaiba..." the voice replied with a click.  
  
His office door opened and in came Mokuba.   
"Hey Onii-san!" he began, a smile on his face, "How was your day?"  
"How was yours?" Seto replied as he began to set up his laptop.   
"Just the same old," he replied, "What about you?"  
"I don't have time right now, Mokuba, I'm working." He said as he began to load up his program. Mokuba nodded to himself and lounged on the sofa nearby and began to play his Duel Monsters Game on his Gameboy advance.  
  
Hours went by before Mokuba looked back up and announced, "I'm going home now, I'll see ya later." "Fine, see you." he replied, not even looking up.  
  
"I can tell you're vewy sad," the little girl whispered to him, pulling away from him, "I see it in your eyes."  
"How?" he asked her, looking away in fear. But his face was lead back to look into her adorable hazel eyes as she giggled, "I dun no...I just no I gotta hug you." With that, she hugged him again.  
  
Although Seto denied it to himself, he couldn't get the moment the two shared hugs in his far and distant past out of his mind.  



	8. Kaiba Vs Jou 1

After The Dueling (working title)  
  
A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko  
  
Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -  
  
Chapter 8: Kaiba VS. Jou I  
  
"It's no trouble at all, Ryou," Yugi's grandpa replied when he thanked him for letting him spend the night, "It's always nice to have company over."  
"Come on upstairs, we need to get you settled in," Yugi smiled at his friend as he led him upstairs.  
  
"As for you, Anzu," Grandpa began, "Do you need to call your mother?"  
"Yes please." She said as she nodded and took the phone from Grandpa's hand.  
  
Yugi made Ryou a nice sleeping space on the floor of his room and it was quite comfortable looking.  
"Well this is about the second time I've had to spend the night at your house because of my stupid bus," Ryou began, "I feel so stupid..."  
  
"Hey it's not your fault!" Yugi began, "It's because the maintenance on school buses is so poor that yours always happens to come late."  
  
The ringing of the phone downstairs interrupted them.  
"Mom?" Anzu answered.  
  
"Anzu?" Jou replied, "What are you doing at Yug's?"  
"Why are you calling, Katsuya?" she asked him in return.  
"Don't call me that!" he exclaimed, "It's Jounouchi or Jou!! Now answer my question!"  
"Not with that tone I'm not." she replied.  
  
"Um, Anzu, who's on the phone?" Yugi's grandpa interrupted.  
"It's Jou," she quickly answered.  
"Neva mind! Put Yugi on the phone!" Jou groaned, "I need to ask him a favor!"  
  
"Okay..." Anzu said turning to the Grandpa.   
"Yugi! Pick up the phone it's for you!" the grandpa exclaimed.  
  
Yugi did as he was told and picked up the phone. "Hello?" he asked.  
"Hey Yug," Jou began.  
"What's up Jou?" he asked.  
"Yea what's going on?" Anzu asked from the other end.  
  
"Well guys...we need to break apart this friendship between Kaiba and my sister. He's getting too close to her and vice versa!"  
"What's wrong with that?" Anzu asked, "A friend can never be harmful!"  
"Not if they become more," Jou replied in a stern tone, "I don't trust that Kaiba. He might take advantage of her and-!"  
  
"Aren't you overreacting Jou?" Yugi interrupted, "I mean, if your sister really wants to be friends with Kaiba..."  
"I sometimes believe she wants more than that out of him!" Jou exclaimed, "She's defied what I've said twice now!"  
  
"So you believe you have control over what your little sister does?!" Anzu exclaimed, "That's not how it works Jou!"  
"I'm keepin' her safe!" he snapped, "It's better than when it's too late and Kaiba has her broken and tattered."  
  
"I don't believe Kaiba has any intention of hurting her, Jou." Yugi said.  
"Are ya going to help me out or not?!" Jou exclaimed, "I've already got Honda to help me out. Otogi was spewing the same crap you guys were..."  
"No!" both Anzu and Yugi replied as they hung up the phones.  
  
"Well," Ryou laughed nervously, "That was a pleasant conversation!"  
  
- - -  
  
The next day at school, Jou and Honda began their plan to break her and Kaiba apart as friends. In the morning, Jou stood in front of where the Kaiba limo usually pulls up and talked to her sister. Honda was also right behind her, making comments every so often.   
At the same time though, Yugi, Anzu, Bakura, and Otogi were working to fight against their plan. Otogi took Shizuka with him to the hallways to go and talk to Kaiba. Jou chased after Otogi and ended up giving him a piece of his mind.  
  
"Will you two shut the fuck up?!" Kaiba exclaimed, storming out of the computer lab,"I am trying to work...here..."  
  
He found himself slowing down in speech when he saw why they were fighting. He had wondered why Shizuka didn't wave to him this morning or dash off from her brother to walk with him inside of class. It was her brother, blocking them apart again.  
  
"What are you trying to do, Jounouchi?" Seto smirked, "Train your sister into not being able to make decisions for herself?"  
  
"Stay out of this Kaiba!" Jou exclaimed, approaching Kaiba, "I've had it up to here with you bothering my sister!"  
  
"But Kaiba's right!" Otogi exclaimed, "You're acting like a maniac right now Jou!"  
  
"Have you forgotten that this the same guy who has called me a 'mutt' and has put me down several times over?!" he screamed back at him, "And you think it's ok for me to let her be around him?! He's harmful!"  
"Katsuya!" Shizuka suddenly exclaimed, "The whole time I've been talking to him he hasn't said one thing bad about me! We talk with each other and have good conversations!"  
  
Jou turned around to his sister in anger, approached her and yelled, "Do NOT call me Katsuya in public! I'm Jounouchi or Jou! And for another thing-!"  
"Get out of her face!" Kaiba found himself snapping at Jou, forcing his head away from her, "You're the one who's harmful right now! I would never scream in my own sibling's face!"  
  
Jounouchi exploded in anger and attempted to punch Kaiba in the face. He was unsuccessful as Kaiba took his fist and blocked it with the palm of his hand. To return the favor, Kaiba gave a good punch in his face.  
"Don't fuck with me Jounouchi," he coldly said, "Or I'll fuck you up so bad you'll be crying for mommy."  
  
"What's going on out there?!" a voice exclaimed as he rushed over.  
  
"Seto..." Shizuka said.  
"It's Kaiba, Kawaii." He replied to her, "Now get out of here before the dean gets here."  
"But I..." she began.  
"Get the hell out of here!" he repeated.  
  
"Let's go Shizuka!" Otogi said as he took her wrist and led her off with him.  
  
"Hey! Stop those kids!" another voice exclaimed.  
  
---  
  
"Five day suspension to Jou and not to Kaiba?!" Anzu exclaimed, "How much did he have to pay them?!"  
  
"Heard he had to pay 10 grand," Otogi explained, "I heard Kaiba was sent away to home but I doubt it...I think Jou was the only one..."  
  
"I ended up being called to the office just a minute ago," Shizuka interrupted.  
"Really?!" he exclaimed, "You didn't tell me that!"  
  
"Well, basically, my mom was there...because you know our dad...and she asked me to explain what happened. And I did. So in the end, my mother made Jou promise not to upset let and me anymore me make my own choices."   
"I doubt he'll stop trying to keep you and Kaiba apart though," Anzu sighed, "Even if it's indirect."  
  
"You know...I can't believe Kaiba stood up for you. It was shocking." Otogi repeated, "He might..."  
"Yea, you've said that three time," Shizuka smiled in irritation, "Now can we please change the subject?"  
"No let me finish," he insisted, "You know he really...might just like you more than a friend Shizuka!"  
  
"That's bull shit!" Honda exclaimed, "Kaiba is a cold hearted jack ass! He has no feelings!"  
  
"Excuse me," Kaiba interrupted.  
  
"Kaiba!" Yugi exclaimed as everyone else turned to him in surprise.  
Honda smiled nervously, hoping he wasn't about to be the next one beat up.   
  
"I have no interest in what this dip wad Honda has to say to me anyway..." Seto thought to himself, "I came for another reason."  
  
"I need to have a moment with Kawaii," Seto said.  
"Hai," Shizuka said getting up, "Let's talk."  
  
They walked off together as if it was perfectly normal and everyone stared on at them in shock. 


	9. Never Speak To Each Other Again

After The Dueling (working title)  
  
A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko  
  
Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -  
  
Chapter 9: Never Speak To Each Other Again  
  
As Shizuka and Seto exited the cafeteria, both were uneasy and silent. She had no idea what he wanted to say to her, and he had no idea why he was even doing this. Kaiba was almost ready to turn to her and just tell her to get out of his life, just so he wouldn't have to let down his guard anymore. But he just sighed and ran both of his hand through his hair.  
  
"Quit stalling you moron," he thought to himself, "Just tell her straight up that you want nothing to do with her anymore and make a clean break for it. What are you so worked up about?"  
  
"Seto?" she asked him.  
"Shizuka..." he sighed, "I think I need to explain clearly to you...what happened this morning."  
"What do you mean?" she asked him.  
  
"The only reason I protected you was because...I imagined you as my brother Mokuba and...I know I'd never yell at him like that..."  
  
"I know you mentioned that," she interrupted.  
  
"Just let me finish," he nearly snapped at her.  
  
"Okay," she said in a calm voice.  
  
"For one thing, I could care less about you, or how your brother treats you," he sneered, "In fact, this past month has been a bizarre time for me. I don't know why I continue to speak to you although we are not, and never will be friends. And I know very well that is your ultimate goal in the end, Shizuka."  
  
"Seto," she began.  
"It's Kaiba," he corrected her.  
"Then call me by Kawaii," she said, getting annoyed.  
  
"Fine," he replied, not caring how she was feeling.  
  
"Kaiba," she began again, "If you really didn't want to talk to me or even try to be my friend for this past month, then why did you let me? You could have easily pushed me away like any other girl!"  
"I didn't want to bother angering that mutt like I always do," he coolly replied, "Anyway, Shi- Kawaii, that is all I have to say to you." With that, he turned around and began to walk away from her.  
  
"I haven't finished anything I want to say, Kaiba!" she exclaimed as she ran after him, only to be following him from behind, "All of your actions this month have spoken louder than words to me. You want to get to know me, you want to have friendship! It's not like it's some romantic connection..."  
"Did I even remotely suggest that, Kawaii?" he rolled his eyes, with his back turned to her.  
"No...you didn't," she began to blush, "But since I...know you don't want that...I..."  
  
"You're right, I don't," he replied to her, his back still turned, "Now, please give up your silly dreams of becoming my friend. It's close to an obsession with you, and I don't need another stalker on my trail."  
  
With that he re-entered the cafeteria.  
  
Shizuka felt like he had just verbally slapped her in the face again. What he said to her hurt her somewhere deep inside. She really enjoyed spending time with him and even see him open up emotionally. But now, he made it clear he did not enjoy it. And she now assumed he heard her that day she whispered, "Not yet."  
"I better just stop wasting my time and energy on someone who clearly doesn't want it," she sighed, feeling like a dunce, "I'm just going to go back to the cafeteria with my friends."  
With that she went back inside the same way she came in.  
  
"Shizuka! What happened?" Anzu asked her as her friend sat down in disappointment, "What did he say to you?"  
  
"Basically," she replied, not in the mood to talk, "He said he just wanted to end our friendship and never speak to each other again."  
  
"What?!" Otogi exclaimed, "That's outrageous!"  
  
"He's becoming a coward now...and I know why," Honda began, "That bastard is falling for Shizuka! So he's pushing her away to let her know he loves her!"  
  
"No Honda..." Anzu began, "That's what you did to your ex-girlfriend two years ago..."  
  
"Shut up!" he barked as he held back his anger.  
  
"I agree with him though," Otogi said, playing with his hair as always, "Kaiba defended Shizuka today with such a fierce passion in his eyes I thought I was going insane. Knowing him, he'd never protect her...let alone talk to her just because she's Jou's sister. But for the past month we all know they talked and walked together..."  
  
"And he lingered around her once," Anzu added, "He didn't want to leave her."  
  
"Guys let's just drop the subject, it's done with now and Kaiba wants nothing to do with me," she sighed, getting frustrated, "It's his choice what to do."  
  
"Oh he's not getting away with this just yet," Anzu snapped, "He's getting a piece of all of our minds!"  
  
"Yea!" Yugi chimed in with Ryou.  
  
"I definitely think Kaiba is being an idiot," Honda said, "We gotta let him know how we feel about all this."  
  
"He's not going to listen..." Shizuka argued.  
  
"Fine you can just stay here," Anzu groaned, "Yugi, would you mind at least keeping her company?"  
  
"I really," he began.  
  
"I'll stay Yugi, you go on ahead," Ryou smiled at them.  
  
With that, the group went over to Kaiba's table.  
  
"Oh lovely," Seto thought to himself as he typed at his laptop, "The gang of losers is coming my way to defend their friend Shizuka...I should have just started to avoid her and she would have gotten the message that way."  
  
"Kaiba," Anzu began, "Why are you doing this?"  
"I always work at school, you ditz," he sneered at her.  
"Don't be a smart ass, smart guy!" Honda exclaimed, "We're talking about what happened between you and Shizuka-!"  
"Nothing ever 'happened' you bakas," Kaiba snapped, "Why does everyone think I like this girl?!"  
  
"Because ever since the first day of school, you've liked her!" Yugi exclaimed, "I know that's the reason you came over to our group that day because you were looking right over to Shizuka! And especially today, you defended her against her brother, who was losing his temper horribly..."  
  
Seto grunted but let them continue.  
  
"Seto, you haven't been acting like yourself at all around Shizuka," Otogi began, "You say you may just 'tolerate' her. But, we can all tell you like her, even if it's just friendship."  
"What the fucking hell do you know about how I feel and who I care about?!" he barked at them, "I am growing tired and impatient from you morons and you defending Shizuka. I am never talking to her again and she is never talking to me again."  
  
"You know what you dick?" Anzu snapped at him, "At first, I really should have just not let Shizuka talk to you at all...I knew this was going to happen eventually because all you care about is your money. Not even your brother matters to you anymore!"  
"H-how dare you!!" he replied in sheer anger, "You know nothing! My brother is the reason why I became a Kaiba! The reason why I had to work hard for years, building my empire and my status as a champion duelist!"  
  
"Kaiba have you learned nothing," Yugi began, "You still rely on your anger and hate to fuel you."  
"Yugi," he replied, "My thirst for revenge is what got me here and what will get me to become a better, more powerful man than my father! Only then will I be the best!"  
"Let go of the past already," Yugi urged him, "It's killing off all of the good you have inside!"  
  
"I've had enough of you pansies," he snapped, "Besides, the bell has just rung. Goodbye." With that, he turned his back on all of them, packing away his laptop and storming off. 


	10. Seto's Regrets

After The Dueling (working title)

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -

Chapter 10: Seto's Regrets

"That Shizuka Kawaii is finally out of my life...I should be glad I don't have to be pestered anymore...but why do I feel like this was the wrong thing to do?"

Those were the thoughts that crossed Kaiba's mind as he unsuccessfully tried to crack a code on his programming. He knew that this was a major bug and if it wasn't fixed by the end of the week...his company would be ruined. But at the moment, all he could do was look over to Shizuka, who became more and more beautiful to him as the days passed by.

"There is no possible way my young brother and those dorks could have been right," he thought to himself, "I don't find her attractive, I don't like her, and I don't want anything to do with her."

He sighed as he attempted to concentrate, but utterly failed.

"Seto Kaiba is finally out of my life," Shizuka said outloud to herself, since she was sitting alone that day. All of her friends were on a field trip to Mt. Fuji. "But...I can't stop thinking about him," she sighed as she looked towards him and he looked back at her. They stared for a split second before immediately looking away.

"I know he hates me," she continued to herself, "But I just can't find myself to hate him. I've always admired him from afar. He's a powerful, and dominant man. So strong and self guided. But he has a fierceness that just...pierces through me..." She felt herself ready to cry, but held back her tears. He didn't deserve to see her pain and she didn't deserve to suffer for this.

"Look at her," Seto thought to himself as he watched Shizuka looking all depressed, "How pathetic..."

But for an odd reason, a feeling of guilt swept over him. He knew he was the reason why she was down in the dumps. But he never cared about some girl being upset over him. Several times before, he had turned down girls who ran off crying.

"It's because I actually got to know her," he thought to himself, not taking his eyes off her, "She...God...no...I don't need to be thinking about this..."

But he still didn't take his eyes off her. He watched her try to look cheerful, which was something he thought was a waste of time, but failed as she slouched in her seat.

"I can't just start talking to her again," he continued to himself, "She'd probably slap me across the face and tell me to fuck off. There's no use in thinking I can undo the past. Because I know for a fact that it's impossible."

He finally took his eyes off her once he saw her glance her way and continued to type at his laptop.

"Was Se....Kaiba staring at me just now?" Shizuka thought to herself, looking at him in surprise, "The minute I looked to him he quickly looked away...but I'm not bothering to make an effort this time, if he wants something done about his feelings for me. It has to be all him."

---

The next day, Yugi and the gang were all at lunch together with Shizuka. They had let go of the whole "Seto and Shizuka" ordeal the day after Kaiba told them off and did their best to avoid that subject at all costs. But Jou decided to bring it up.

"So Shizuka, you and Kaiba ain't talking anymore?" he asked.

"No..." she answered, frowning, "Because he told me he didn't want to." She felt her heart sink. Just the other day she was trying to ignore her feelings of rejection and betrayal, and now her brother was bringing it up.

"That dick aint worth your time, sister," he replied, "So don't let it get ya down." With that, he gave her a hug and Anzu quickly changed the subject.

"Is anyone going to the Big Blow Out Gaming Store Sale after school today?" she began.

"I know I am!" Yugi smiled, "It's so exciting! My grandpa has given me 5000 yen to spend!"

"NO KIDDIN'!" Honda exclaimed, nearly choking on his sandwich, which embarrassed him since he was in front of Shizuka.

"Damn, that's REALLY generous," Otogi said, drinking Pepsi, "Why so much?"

"Well...I grew a half inch the other day," he blushed, "So he thought the Gods were very pleased with me and that I deserved a financial reward."

The gang laughed, can't imagining that Yugi only grew a half-inch.

"Well you'll be getting' to the tall ranks like us soon enough Yug!" Jou winked at him, while laughing.

"Hah, hah very funny." Yugi sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Guys that's enough," Anzu defended.

"Alright, alright," Honda sighed, calming down.

---

"PLLLEEASEEEEEE SETO!" Mokuba whined to his brother.

"No, Mokuba!" he repeated to him, attempting to concentrate, "It is CRUCIAL for me to fix this problem. And it could take several days!"

"But you promised you'd spend more time with me this month!" his brother continued, "Last month, you hardly even talked to me! Except for maybe one day!"

"God damnit Mokuba, I have to get this done!" he exclaimed, "It's crucial! Our company's high status could go down the drain if I let this go!"

"How about just one hour there?" Mokuba bargained, "One hour."

"A half-hour." Seto replied.

"Deal!" Mokuba smiled.

"Very well," he sighed, forcing himself to get up, "But if it goes over that, I'm going to get mad."

"Don't worry, it wont!" Mokuba smiled, hugging his brother, "Now let's hurry!"

"Ok, ok." Seto sighed, not liking this at all.

"I really like that Blue Eyes Plush, Yugi," Shizuka smiled, "Isn't he adorable?"

"Yes," he smiled, "And it's only 500 yen. How about I get it for you?"

"Oh Yugi!" she exclaimed, "You don't have to do that!"

"If it's for a good friend," Yugi smiled, "I'd be glad to. Let me go pay for it and come back."

"Hey Shizuka!" Honda yelped from behind, startling her, "Look what I brought for you!"

Shizuka gasped in shock when she saw the large bouquet of roses in a glass vase and a teddy bear.

"Honda..." she began.

"I spent all of my money, just for you," he grinned, "Because you're worth any price."

"Thanks Honda," she smiled at him, "This is very kind of you."

"Hey, isn't that your friend Shizuka?" Mokuba told Seto as he pointed to her.

Seto felt an angry wave of jealously sweep over him as he watched Shizuka blush over Honda. Of course, he flat out denied this feeling.

"She's not my friend," he snapped as he looked away from her.

Mokuba shrugged his shoulders, deciding not to discuss the subject further, and browsed through the items.

"Here you are Shizuka!" Yugi smiled at her with the most adorable face, handing her the Blue Eyes.

She squealed in admiration as she knelt down to Yugi and gave him a big hug. "Thank you so much, Yugi!" she smiled at him, standing up, "I've got to show my big brother the presents from you guys!"

"Sure ok..." Honda laughed uncomfortably, hoping Jou wouldn't kill him.

"Wow, Honda," Yugi began, "You like Shizuka?"

"I thought everyone knew that..." Honda replied, raising his eyebrows.

"No..." he trailed off.

Shizuka hadn't looked before crossing the street, and there was a large, enormous truck heading her way.

"What the hell is she doing?!" Seto exclaimed, seeing the situation about to unfold. Without a second thought, he rushed towards her.

"Seto! Where are you go-?!" Mokuba exclaimed as he watched the scene unfold.

"Why is Kaiba runnin' in front of that truck?!" Jou exclaimed as Anzu gasped in shock and Ryou's eyes widened in surprise.

"He must have gone insane!" Ryou exclaimed, "And now he wants to end it all!"

"Oh my God!" Anzu exclaimed with fear in her eyes.

Shizuka screamed in horror as she saw the truck approaching her, when suddenly she looked to her right and saw Kaiba rushing towards her. He pushed her out of the way just in time, rolled over, and took the fall on his back, flinching in pain. Shizuka slowly got up and she heard Seto breathing heavily from having to run so fast in such a short notice. She began to register what had happened in her mind, and realized Seto Kaiba had just saved her life.

"Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed, "That was amazing!"

Groaning in pain, Seto attempted to get up. Shizuka quickly stood up and offered her hand, along with the hand of Honda, to help Kaiba stand. Kaiba took Shizuka's as Mokuba went behind him and helped him stand as well.

"Gee next time I wont offer help," Honda muttered to himself, clearly insulted.

"What the hell were you doing back there?" Seto began to Shizuka, his eyes as cold as stone, "You just blindly walked across like an idiot!"

"Th-thank you so much Kaiba!!" She sobbed as she suddenly clung onto him as if for dear life, "I was stupid! I could have died in that instant!"

"Don't be hard on her Kaiba," Honda snapped, "We all make mistakes!"

Ignoring what he said, Kaiba stood there like a stiff twig, taken aback by Shizuka's hug. He didn't know what to do or say.

"Seto's blushing!" Yugi exclaimed, shocked.

"I am not!" he snapped, turning even redder, moving away from her. But she refused to let go of him. After a few slight attempts, he sighed in annoyance, giving up, and wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh Kaiba," she sniffled, "How can I ever thank you for this?"

He didn't reply as he continued to hold her in his arms, liking the way she felt close to him. He had to do his best to force himself not to smile.


	11. A New Light

After The Dueling (working title)

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -

Chapter 11: A New Light

Kaiba came out of "fantasyland", as he began to hear the cheers of random strangers. He just realized he had caused a scene over saving Shizuka's life.

"Keep walking, people!" Kaiba barked, letting go of Shizuka, "Nothing to see here!"

The people muttered to themselves in annoyance as they continued on in their shopping, as if forgetting what had just happened.

"Kaiba," Shizuka began, still crying.

"Wipe those tears off your eyes," Kaiba replied to her, looking at her straight in the eye with a slightly gentle look, "You have no reason to cry now. You're fine."

Shizuka giggled a bit and smiled at him.

"Yea, you're right." She replied.

"Oh..." Anzu began, "My..."

"God." Ryou finished.

Katsuya Jounouchi, Anzu Manzaki, and Ryou Bakura all just witnessed Seto Kaiba saving the life of the person he declared he'd never speak to again. It was a shocking incident.

"I," Jou began, "I can't believe it."

"Neither can I," Anzu began, "Let's go over there and see what's going on now."

Ryou and Jou nodded in agreement as they followed Anzu.

"So," Mokuba grinned, "You're Shizuka Kawaii! I'm Mokuba Kaiba, Seto's younger brother!"

"It's nice to meet you," she smiled at him as she politely shook his hand.

Mokuba knew now that Shizuka was perfect for Seto. She could be the light that conquers his dark heart.

"Mokuba we only have 3 minutes to get back to my office," Kaiba began, as he turned to his brother and then to Shizuka, "I have to get back to work-"

"Wait, before you go," Shizuka began, holding up her Blue Eyes Plush, "Perhaps you could take this from me as a gift? Saying thanks."

"I don't want this," Seto thought to himself, while lifting his eyebrows, "I'm a grown man. It would look strange to be carrying this..."

But ironically, he found himself taking her gift and gave her a half smile.

"Thanks." He said to her as he turned his back and left.

Yugi sighed; trying not to get upset that Shizuka gave up the gift he gave her to Seto. He knew he didn't have a chance with her now. Kaiba was what she was looking for, not him.

---

Seto placed the Blue Eyes White Dragon plush on his desk. It seemed to be a perfect touch, although he knew that if one of the executives saw it, they'd laugh in his face. But he didn't care; no one ever came up to the CEO's room anyway, except for Mokuba.

"It's interesting how she likes the Blue Eyes as well," Mokuba began, taking Seto out of his thoughts, and back to work, "You may have more in common than you think."

"Still," Seto began, "This changes nothing between us. We still wont speak to one another, and we still wont be friends."

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two. Mokuba felt that he should say something about what he observed, but at the same time, he didn't want Seto to become angered. He would just have to take the risk. He sighed, walked up to Seto's desk and then sighed again.

"What are you sighing about?" Seto asked him, looking up from his laptop for a minute, "I thought you were happy that we went to that sale?"

"Seto," Mokuba began, "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"I have to get this shit done Mokuba," he snapped at him.

"No, I'm not talking about your work," he replied calmly, "I'm talking about you and Serenity."

Seto put his hand on this face and leaned on it. Now his brother was brining this onto him, his "feelings" for Shizuka.

"For God's sake, I have no romantic interest in that girl!" he exclaimed,  
"She and I would never work out!"

"Did I even remotely suggest that?" Mokuba asked him.

Seto's eyes widened, realizing he was implying he might be thinking of it as a possibility. But of course, he absolutely was not. He wasn't interested in the pursuit of a permanent relationship, or even a marriage. He had had his heart broken so many times, that he just quit in that department. Forced separations by Gozaboru and being used for his money were many of the incidents that happened to poor Kaiba.

"Seto, now I know this has to be more serious," Mokuba began, "You like her."

"I do not," he calmly replied, realizing feelings he had kept hidden away began to emerge, "I just..."

He couldn't finish his sentence, or even keep a straight face. He put his head in his hands and leaned forward, sighing from stress. He had no idea how to pinpoint how he felt about Shizuka.

"I hated her," Seto thought to himself as he leaned back in his chair, "Since she was Jou's sister...no, that was a lie. I never hated her. She always was attractive to me. And she actually gives me the goddamn respect I deserve. I've worked hard to get where I am now, and she knows that. No one seems to appreciate...what the hell am I bitching about? I'm a man, not some love sap. I'm getting these thoughts out of my head, right now."

"Seto," Mokuba continued, before Seto went back to typing, "She likes you too."

"I wish to discuss this no further, Mokuba," Seto told him sternly, beginning to program. As Mokuba sulked and retreated, Seto added, "How do you know she likes me?"

"Huh?" Mokuba asked, slightly surprised.

"Why do you assume this?" he asked him again.

"If she hated you, she would have not hugged you after you saved her." Mokuba replied.

"Hmm..." Seto nodded as he continued to program at his laptop.

Mokuba smiled a bit, beginning to see him in a "new light". The incident that happened between him and Shizuka was beginning to change him.

"What are these strange feelings emerging within me?" Seto thought to himself, "I know it can't be love...why the hell do I keep bringing that word into this equation?! It's because everyone else assumes...God damnit..."

He abruptly stopped thinking about that subject and put his full concentration on his programming. But little did he know she was beginning to grow on him, in a good way.

---


	12. Sudden Occurrence

After The Dueling (working title)

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -

Chapter 12: Sudden Occurrence

"CAT FIGHT!" someone screamed.

Kaiba arrived at school to find that Anzu, Shizuka, and another girl were involved in a large catfight. He quickly went over, along with the other guys and girls, to watch. The first person Kaiba saw was Shizuka. She was on the sidelines, watching Anzu get smacked down to the ground. The other girl was fairy shorter than Anzu, and yet she was able to dominate over her.

"You stay the fuck away from Yugi Moto!" the girl screamed at Anzu as she continued to beat her senseless. Other girls who hated Anzu laughed at her as she suffered from the pain.

"Get off of me, Rebecca!!" Anzu barked as she kicked the girl in her stomach. As she struggled to get up, Shizuka rushed to her side to help. But, she then scratched Shizuka in the face. She gasped and drew her face back in pain, putting her hand over her cheek.

Seto gasped as the others shouted, "Shizuka!!!" His eyes slightly widened in shock at what had just happened.

Shizuka looked over to Kaiba, and saw that he appeared to look worried about her. As she was distracted, Rebecca kicked her to the ground and she was knocked out cold when her face landed on a rock. Shizuka's head began to bleed from the injury.

"SISTA! OH MY GOD!!" Jou exclaimed as tried to fight his way through the crowds.

Kaiba was shocked too. He wanted to rush over to her side, as Jou was...but he just stood there like a statue...just as the rest of the crowds did.

"Oh my God...oh my God..." Jou began, "What am I gonna do?"

"God damnit..." Kaiba sighed, as he put his head in his hand. He did not believe this had all happened. It had been so quick, and sudden. He was as shocked as Jou was.

"Someone get the teachers!" a boy exclaimed.

"And the nurses!" a girl chimed in.

"What just happened here?!" Yugi exclaimed, worried sick, "What's going on?!

"Three girls got into a fight," Otogi explained, trying to remain calm, "They were fighting over you."

"W-wha???" Yugi stuttered, blushing a bright red.

"You worthless, fuckin' United States bitch!" Anzu exclaimed as she punched Rebecca in the face and kicked her to the ground, knocking her out as well.

"Holy shit, Anzu!" Honda exclaimed in surprise.

Shortly afterwards, she felt very faint and collapsed.

"Anzu!" Yugi chirped as he ran over to her side.

"We need to get Shizuka and the others to a hospital!" Jou exclaimed, trying not to let his tears show.

Kaiba approached him and knelt down to his level, "Then let's get them there. Stop crying and take it like a man."

"Shut up." He snapped.

"Watch what you say," he snapped back," Anyway, I'll take them in the Kaiba Corp helicopter and send them to the hospital...I'll make sure Shizuka is in the best of care."

"You'd do that for me, Kaiba?" Jou asked in shock.

"No, I'd do it for the sake of Shizuka's life," Kaiba replied, trying not to get annoyed. He took out his cell phone and pressed a speed dial.

"Yes, this is Seto Kaiba." He began, "We have a Code Red Emergency at Domino High School. We need transport for..."

- - -

"Kaiba, you came through again!" Jou began as he spoke to him.

"Don't get used to it," he said, trying to end the conversation.

"Now, hold on a minute," Jou continued, "I owe ya for all of this! You saved my sister from being runned over a bus, and now this! How can I ever repay ya?"

"There's nothing," Seto replied, "Nothing I want."

"Huh?" Jounouchi asked as he left the room.

He snuck over to Shizuka's room, now that her brother had finally left, and quietly entered inside. She still was unconscious, but showing signs of life. They had been lucky enough to make in time before she ran out of blood. Her head was wrapped in a protective cast since the wound she had received was so large. He sat down on a stool next to her and sighed.

"What have you done to me, Shizuka?" Kaiba asked himself, "I didn't give a damn about you before...but now...you're..."

He didn't let himself finish, and instead took her hand. It was soft and warm, and he enjoyed it. It felt like a magical feeling that he never wanted to let go. He was falling for her, but he would never admit that to himself...wholeheartedly. But, he knew this was wrong to do this to her. She had done nothing to hurt him, and she didn't deserve to be hurt. He could do nothing but hurt, he was a person fading away into the world. He forced back his smile and tried to let go, but her hand clung tighter.

He looked up to her face and to his surprise she was awake.

"Seto...Kaiba..." she whispered to him, barely able to keep her eyes open.

He finally smiled at her, taking his other hand and putting it on hers.


	13. Telephone Hour II

After The Dueling (working title)

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -

Chapter 13: Telephone Hour II

Mokuba rushed into the hospital, holding a bouquet of daisies. He was hoping Shizuka and Anzu were okay. He had found out about what happened while he was in his lunch period. Seto called his cell phone and asked him about his day.

_There was a long silence before Kaiba continued his phone conversation with Mokuba._

_"Shizuka is in critical condition at the hospital."_

_"What?!" Mokuba exclaimed, "Why? What happened?"_

_"She was involved in a fight with Anzu and that U.S. brat Rebecca."_

_"Anzu too?!" Mokuba gasped, "Is she alright?"_

_"She's still unconscious," Kaiba began, "But Shizuka is in the worse condition."_

_"I'm sorry Seto." He replied._

_"Mokuba," his older brother began, "Do you remember a girl who came to me the day before Gozaboru chess game?"_

_"Umm…no I don't remember much that far back. Sorry." He replied._

_"Well, Shizuka was the girl," Seto continued, "And I never told you this but… she was stuck in my mind for several years. Soon I forgot all about her, and here she comes again, on my Duel Ship…and in my school."_

_"Maybe it's a sign, Seto," Mokuba replied, "That you're meant to be with her."_

_Kaiba did not respond. There was an uncomfortable silence._

_"Seto?" Mokuba asked, finally breaking the silence, "Are you alright?"_

_"I'm fine." He snapped, "Now, after school I want you to come here to the hospital since I won't be returning to Kaiba Corp today. I'll put everything on hold for the moment."_

_"Alright." Mokuba said, "I'll rush over right after school."_

_"Bye." Seto said, hanging up._

---

"Room 403, Manzaki Anzu," Mokuba read, "This is her room…"

He walked inside and saw that the nurses were taking care of her. She was awake, but seemed quite weak.

"Mokuba?" he heard her ask, as she looked into his eyes.

Mokuba smiled at her and nodded, "Yep, it's me."

He stood up and approached her, as the nurses bowed and left the room.

"These are for you, Anzu," he smiled, handing her the bouquet.

"Thanks Mokuba, you shouldn't have." She smiled, barely able to move, "How did you find out about-?"

"Seto told me the basics," he replied to her, nodding, "So I know that you, Shizuka, and Rebecca were in a fight."

"That's right," she sighed, too weak to become angry, "That brat saw me giving Yugi a hug over the weekend while we were hanging out. She took it as me, 'hitting on her man'."

"How was Shizuka involved?" he asked.

"She protected me, but ended up being in the worst condition," she sighed, guilt in her eyes.

"It's not your fault," he said, "She chose to put herself in danger for the sake of her friend. I would do that for Seto."

Anzu decided not to reply to that. She couldn't see how anyone would protect that cold-hearted…

_"But then again, he does have a soft spot somewhere." Anzu thought, "He saved Shizuka's life from that bus…and today, bringing us to the hospital..."_

"Do you mind if I stay to keep you company, Anzu?" Mokuba smiled at her, "It's been so long since we've been able to talk. I've missed you."

"I have too," she smiled at him, "So I don't mind at all."

---


	14. Kaiba Vs Jou 2

After The Dueling (working title)

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -

Chapter 14: Kaiba Vs. Jou II

Several hours passed before a nurse interrupted Mokuba and Anzu. They had been talking for several hours…but it seemed like a shorter time span.

"Excuse me, but Mr. Kaiba requests to see Mokuba," The nurse said, looking at him.

"Oh, okay." Mokuba frowned, "I hope this isn't the last we see of each other, Anzu."

"I hope for the same…" she smiled back at him, "I'd really like to be your friend."

Mokuba smiled as he waved and left the hospital room.

- - -

Seto Kaiba couldn't let go of Shizuka's hand. He felt that if he did, he'd take away the remaining strength she had inside of her; as well as his own. But he also didn't feel right being affectionate like this. He felt very vulnerable and weak in this state. He wished he could find the right words to say to explain himself, but he couldn't.

Shizuka didn't understand why Kaiba wasn't pushing her away, as he always did. But she never wanted this moment to end. In fact, she would love to repeat these silent kinds of moments with him. They held each other's hand, bonding together in some mysterious way. She wasn't ready to assume anything of a romantic sort, but…

"Kaiba?!" a voice barked from the other side of the room. Seto immediately snatched his hands off of Shizuka's. However, it was already too late. Katsuya Jounouchi had just seen their act of holding hands.

"Oni-sama…" she frowned, knowing she had angered him.

"Shizuka!" he exclaimed, "How could you let-?!"

"Keep your voice down sir!" A nurse snapped in a stage whisper, "Ms. Kawaii is in bad condition as it is!"

"I agree," Kaiba replied, "Leave Shizuka out of this for now."

"Yea, let me just talk to ya right outside, Kaiba." Jou replied, with a fake grin.

_"That damn mutt has no idea what he's getting himself into," Kaiba smirked to himself as they left Shizuka's hospital room._

_"What if they're going to have another fight?" Shizuka thought, worried, "I don't want either one of them getting hurt!"_

_---_

Mokuba moved out the way as he watched Seto and Jou exit the room he was just about to visit. Jounouchi cut right to the chase, giving Kaiba a good punch in his jaw as Yugi and Co. stared in shock.

"Oni-san!" Mokuba cried out.

"So moneybags," Jou began, an evil look on his face, "Ya think since ya saved my sister a couple of times that you can just go right on ahead and make the moves?"

Kaiba returned the previous favor by punching his face, slamming him into the wall, and giving him a black eye.

"Mr. Kaiba!" a security officer exclaimed, rushing over to him, "I don't want to do this, but-"

"Take this if you just back off and let me and the mutt settle this!" he barked, shoving a wad of at least $1,000 at the officer.

"Understood!" the officer replied, rushing aside.

"Kaiba!" Yugi exclaimed, "This isn't the place to be fighting! In fact, you shouldn't be fighting at all!"

"Pipe down, Yugi!" he snapped at him, "This is none of your business!"

"Guess what ya motherfucker son of a bitch!!!" Jou shouted, his voice escalating as he spoke, "You're not getting anywhere near my sista! I could never accept you with her!"

"Maybe you should start getting used to it," Seto replied, trying to calm down a bit.

"Did you just say that outloud?" Mokuba thought aloud, his eyes widened in shock.

In a maddened rage, Jou took a nearby chair and flung it at Kaiba. Instead of hitting him, however, Seto dodged it just in time and it slammed through a window and out into the streets bellow.

"Jou!!" Yugi exclaimed again, "Someone could get killed because of that chai-!"

"Shut up! I don't give a flying fuck right now about anything else besides beating the living shit outta Kaiba!!" Jou screamed.

Along with a few doctors, a bunch of nurses came running out of their stations. "Please! Please!" the three nurses cried, rushing to the two boys, "Please don't fight!"

"The girls are getting very upset," one continued, "They can hear everything going on!"

"I am outraged at this disgusting behavior in a hospital," the doctor began, "Especially from a respectable man such as Mr. Kaiba!"

- - -

After Jou threw that chair outside of the building, Honda and Duke both knew that the fight could become deadly. Even if it was a betrayal in a sense, they both rushed downstairs to call the police (since security was occupied with bribe money…).

Otogi noticed that the chair had indeed hit someone, as Yugi had said. Cringing, he looked over to Tristan and said, "Jou just killed someone with the chair."

"WHAT?!" Tristan exclaimed, dropping the phone.

"Hello?" the operator asked over the phone, "Hello?"

"Stay on the line," Otogi sighed, "I'm going to go check it out."

Tristan nodded as he picked up the phone and began talking.

A strong man lifted the chair from the victim's body, as onlookers gasped in horror. Otogi studied the victim…

**"Oh my God."**


	15. Accidental Murder

After The Dueling (working title)

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -

Chapter 15: Accidental Murder

"**Oh my God," **was all Otogi could find himself to say. He could not believe who Jou had just killed just moments ago. _"Perhaps it was a light, thick green cushioned chair in appearance…but when falling from at least 20 stories or so, it was a very, heavy object." Otogi thought to himself, still shocked._

"Do you know who this victim is?!" a sobbing lady asked, "That poor soul!"

Otogi sighed and nodded his head.

"Yes…it's-"

- - -

Shizuka was relived when Seto re-entered the room. Although she knew it would have been fair to have him go to Prison with her brother, she really didn't want him to leave.

"I'm sorry things got so out of hand." Kaiba began, as his jaw continued to bleed, "But your brother assaulted me, and I had to defend myself."

"Why the hell am I apologizing?" he yelled at himself, "This is not me…" 

"I…worried about…. brother," she sniffled weakly, feeling the tears coming on again, "But…your poor jaw…it's…not…fair…."

"I don't need your sympathy," he replied to her, "You're too weak to be giving me comforting words."

"I…" she continued.

"Please don't." he replied.

"_I better make her shut up." He thought to himself._

Without a second thought, Kaiba leaned over to Shizuka's forehead and kissed it. It hurt the hell out of his lips, but he had no regrets.

_"That should do the trick." He smirked._

She felt a rush of emotion going through her. She wanted to return his favor in a greater way, by leaning up and kissing him on his lips. Unfortunately, she was too weak to do so. Instead, she moved her hand over Kaiba's again.

"You like that, don't you?" he smiled at her, putting both of his hands on hers again.

"Yes." She smiled at him.

- - -

Honda couldn't believe his ears when Otogi told him who was killed by Jou's hand. It sounded like something out of a dramatic sitcom.

"Get out of here, you're just trying to spook me out!" he laughed it off.

"I wouldn't joke like that," Otogi replied, "I'm dea- I'm serious."

Reality suddenly sunk in for him. It wasn't even someone he was related to, and yet, he felt horrible about it.

"I can't believe Jou killed-"

- - -

Yugi began to sob, knowing this news was going to seriously hurt Jou when he found out. He knew that he'd guilt trip himself the rest of his life. He'd become suicidal, like the Pharaoh once was.

Otogi didn't know what to say to calm Yugi down. No one knew what could calm him at this point. No one, except for Mokuba.

"Pull yourself together, Yugi!" Mokuba said, shaking him, "It's not like it was yo-"

"If that was the case I'd want to kill Jou!" Yugi snapped, sniffling, "But…anyway…you're right…I need to calm down."

Silence cursed the room. All that could be heard was Anzu talking on the phone to her friend, Seto and Shizuka speaking to one another, and Rebecca whining about something.

"Who is going to tell her?" Yugi finally asked, sniffling.

"I think it would be best if one of us told her," a nurse replied.

"No, someone she trusts must tell her." Honda replied, "Someone like-"

"Not you," Otogi finished, "Don't bug her now with the famous 'I'll heal your broken heart if you ever were alone' crap!"

"Damnit I can do whatever I want in a situation like this!" Tristan exclaimed.

"You sick freak." Mokuba replied, "I'll tell. I can handle this mature situation. Unlike you."

Honda had nothing more to say. He didn't want to back talk to Mokuba, otherwise Seto might kick his ass worse than Jou's.

As Mokuba entered the room, he knew this was going to be harder than it seemed.


	16. Tears

After The Dueling (working title)

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -

Chapter 16: Tears

Mokuba Kaiba entered the hospital room, and saw his brother and Shizuka holding hands. He simply smiled, knowing all along his intuitions were right. At the sudden reaction of Seto taking his hands away from Shizuka, Mokuba started laughing.

"There's nothing going on, so mind your own business!" Seto defended.

"I never even ask a single thing like that!" Mokuba giggled, "You just don't want to admit that I was right!"

He felt himself turn red, knowing in the back of his mind that he was too embarrassed. He had too much pride to admit his own little brother knew more about his own heart than he did.

"Seto's…right…. though," Shizuka smiled, "He's…just…comforting…me…"

Mokuba's heart began to sink. Shizuka was in a very weak, critical state. This news he had to break to her would just crush her now. Maybe he was putting himself in for too much. He wished with all his might at that very moment that he had the courage and fierceness of the Blue Eyes White Dragon; or more correctly, the characteristics of his brother. He knew he that he did have it in him, but he just couldn't do it at that very moment. He couldn't tell her about the one she loved that was dead.

"Mokuba, are you okay?" Seto asked, concerned.

"No, I'm not." He honestly replied, "Can I talk to you outside?"

"Please excuse us, Shizuka," he politely said to her as he stood up and followed his little brother outside.

"Seto…remember when Jou threw that chair?" Mokuba asked.

"Yes, did it hurt someone?" Kaiba asked.

"Killed someone." He replied quietly.

"And…who is it?" Kaiba asked.

"Someone Shizuka knows…" he trailed off, looking to the ground.

"Is it a friend?" he asked. Tapping his foot impatiently, "Who died? Shizuka deserves to know about it if it's anyone she knows."

"Seto, do you realize how weak she is now?" he asked her.

"Of course I do!" Kaiba replied, getting annoyed, "I've been with her the whole time Jou or the others have NOT been in the room with her! I've suffered from guilt Mokuba!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Honda asked, walking over to Kaiba.

"Stay out of this, loser!" he barked.

"No, I wanna know what you're saying about Shizuka!" he snapped, "Why ya so secretive anyway? Everyone knows that you like her!"

"I do not like her in that way!" he snapped, losing his patience by the seconds, "Only as good friends. She is someone I trust, care for, and wish this didn't happen to! It's my entire damn fault anyway! If I hadn't distracted her for that spilt second…"

"No, it was an accident that was unpreventable!" Otogi defended for Kaiba, "Why are you taking the blame on yourself?"

"Who gives a fucking damn!" he declared, "Now-"

"Seto! Quiet down! People are trying to sleep!" Mokuba interrupted.

"Yea, haven't you caused enough trouble for the night?" Honda asked.

"Shut the fuck up, Honda Hiroto." He growled through his teeth, "Now, Mokuba…just tell me who was killed."

"I will…but first tell me what's with your guilt tripping?" Mokuba asked.

"I'll tell you later." Seto growled.

"Promise?"

"Yea," he replied, "Now tell me…I am out of patience."

"It was…" he began, tearing up a little, "Shizuka's mother. Otogi recognized her instantly."

Kaiba was stunned into silence when Mokuba said that. Time seemed to stop for him.

"_That Jounouchi killed his own mother!" he thought to himself, in disbelief, "All because he tried to knock me out with that chair! If I was him right now, I wouldn't want to be alive."_

Seto finally shook his head and came to his sense. He saw that Yugi was crying, along with Mokuba.

"I couldn't tell her that, Seto…" he sniffled, "I just…couldn't. I didn't want to make her cry."

"Sometimes," Seto began, "You can't just run away from your past. You have to move on, and that includes facing the realities of now. Shizuka deserves to know that her mother is dead. Even if it was at the hand of her own brother."

"Maybe you should tell her," Otogi interrupted, "I have a feeling you can be there to dry her tears…with…"

"Fine, I will tell her…" Kaiba replied, not letting him finish. He re-entered the room, with a tear soaked Shizuka.

"Did you just hear everything I said?" Seto asked her.

"Yes…" She weakly whispered, beginning to sob uncontrollably. She felt too weak to scream, and yet she wanted to so badly. Her own brother that she loved…killed their mother.

Seto couldn't take watching her anymore, and he rushed over to her side and had her lean on his shoulder for comfort. Shizuka clung onto Kaiba, hoping he wouldn't push her away or stiffen. But, Kaiba was quite comfortable this way.

"Seto…don't ever…leave my side…don't send me back to my father," she sobbed, finding herself being able to speak strongly, "My mother…was the only person…I could depend on to keep me away from…that monster…from hurting me…trying to beat me…scream at me…or-"

She began coughing from all of her tears, choking on her sorrow.

"_The Jounouchi's seem to have a father who sounds as cruel as Gozaboru?" Kaiba thought to himself, as he continued to cradle Shizuka, speechless, "Shizuka is going through enough. She's not free to do as she pleases, her brother just killed her mother, and now she has to worry about being sent back to that jerk? There must be something…someone…can do…"_

"You're not going anywhere near him," Seto replied, speaking from his heart, "I wont allow it. I'll protect you."

Shizuka couldn't respond, she just continued to cough and sob as nurses finally rushed into to tend to her. They sent Kaiba away, as Shizuka wailed louder, cried out his name, and reached out for him.

Seto felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest as he heard her shout his name. He couldn't go back to her at that moment, because her health was in jeopardy.


	17. I Want To Be Your Guardian

After The Dueling (working title)

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -

Chapter 17: I Want to Be Your Guardian

Neither Seto nor Mokuba could rest that night. They couldn't even force themselves to leave the hospital. They decided to wait in the private waiting room until visiting hours were open again. Seto decided to catch up on work he missed on. He worked on both the paperwork and laptop work non-stop.

Mokuba suddenly remembered Seto's promise at around 4 in the morning as he read a third comic book.

"Seto, why were you blaming yourself for what happened to Shizuka?" Mokuba asked.

"What?" Seto asked, looking up from his laptop.

"Why were you blaming yourself for what happened to Shizuka?" he repeated.

"While she was fighting with Anzu, she looked over to me for a moment," he confessed, "That's when Rebecca slammed her into the ground."

Mokuba stopped reading and replied, "Seto, it was Rebecca's fault for Shizuka's injury. Don't blame yourself for what has already happened. Besides, it's contradicting what you have said earlier about not running away from the past."

"You're right." He replied, and then went into silence as he put his full concentration on work. It was the best way to numb out this nerve-wracking sitituaton.

- - -

Shizuka struggled the entire night trying to sleep. She couldn't possibly fall asleep with the heavy weight of grief burdening her heart. She was also inwardly torn inside from the fact that the brother that she loved was the one who caused all of this pain.

"All because…of…the selfishness…he…" Shizuka said to herself, "…he has…for Seto…"

She began to choke up again and forced herself to close her eyes and block out her pain. She didn't want to go into another crying fit.

- - -

In the morning, Seto decided to have Mokuba run his company for the day. He knew Shizuka's father be coming to claim his full parental status to her. However, with a lawyer on his side, he wouldn't have that. He had a lawyer who was the best in all of Japan; there was no way he'd lose. The lawyer sat patiently waiting for Kaiba to finish sending Mokuba off.

"I'm depending on you Mokuba," Seto encouraged his brother as his two bodyguards came to escort him away, "Don't let me down."

"You can count on me! I'll make sure everything is done right!" Mokuba grinned, "Take care of Shizuka and the others for me."

"I will," Kaiba said.

"I'll hold you to that," Anzu replied, stepping out of her hospital room.

"Hey Anzu," Mokuba smiled at her, "Glad to see you're feeling better."

"Yea, last night was really rough though, huh?" she smiled.

He didn't reply to her as he went to sit next to his lawyer and discuss more details.

"_I can't believe Kaiba is actually going to protect Shizuka a THIRD time," Anzu thought to herself, looking over to Kaiba, "There is no denying now that he cares for Shizuka. I never knew there was this kind of side to Kaiba. I thought I had him all figured out. If I had known, I would have made a better effort in getting to know him."_

"What are you staring at?" Kaiba snapped at her.

"Nothing." She replied, going to Shizuka's room.

- - -

"So you're not the girl's father, you're not the girl's brother, you're not even related to her…and yet you want to become her legal guardian?" the lawyer questioned again.

"For the second time, YES," Kaiba replied, losing his patience again, "Her father is bad news. He beats her and yells at her. I want to become her legal guardian to protect her. Not to mention, her brother is in jail right now for assault and for murdering his mother. He wouldn't be suited to take care of her."

"Now we have answers, Mr. Kaiba," the lawyer grinned at him, "I can almost guarantee we can win in court."

"Don't flatter me," he replied to him, "I'm paying you to show me results, not 'guaranteeing' me them."

"And I will follow through, Mr. Kaiba." He nodded, cleaning his glasses.

Kaiba's second set of bodyguards arrived to protect Seto from the father, just in case. Seto had a feeling this meeting was going to get ugly, one way or another.

- - -

"I-I didn't…know this at all," Shizuka smiled at Anzu. Her eyes began to tear up and Anzu wiped them.

"Yes, Kaiba wants to be your legal guardian," she said, "But that might mean you may not be able to see your brother for a long time."

"I wont be able to…see him…anyway," she frowned, "He's in jail right… now and could ….be sent to. …Death row…but I …could …care…. less."

"Whoa, time out," Anzu interrupted, "You don't care what's happening to your brother?"

"No…he…killed…mom," she frowned, as tears began to flow from her face, "If he hadn't…. gotten so…. angry, he would. …have never…..killed….her!"

"Hey, is this that jack ass who wants to take what's rightfully mine?!" a gruff man barked from outside.

"My…dad…!" she whispered quietly, her heart pounding.

"God…" was all Anzu could reply to.

- - -

"I assume you are Shizuka Kawaii's father," Seto began, looking over this pathetic excuse for a man.

"_I can see why she didn't want to go back living with him," Seto thought to himself. _

Shizuka's father was wearing worn out clothing, had a 9'o clock shadow, and looked hung over and sick.

"I am her father, Mr. Kaiba," he said, "As a matter of fact, I am her father. Chicken rooster..."

_"His intelligence levels fail to amaze me as well," Kaiba continued to himself, "This guy is a cowardly fucker who needs to get a real job…and a real life."_

"Why are you takin' what's rightfully mine, Mr. Kaiba?" he asked him, "Ya lookin' for a good breeder? You don't need to take my young daughter, she's not that great for breedin'…I know all about that…my ex-wife, howeva-"

"That is enough!" Kaiba snapped, "You make me sick. Referring to your own daughter as if she were a dog. The only dogs around here are you and your son!"

"I know my son's an ingrate!" he shouted back, "But don't you refer to me as a god damn dog! I work long and hard all day, he don't do nothin'!"

"You work hard at getting drunk?" he cracked to him, "Everyone can totally tell you're wasted."

The gruff man reached for a knife, when one of the bodyguards shot him in the arm. The two of them went to pull his arms back, and the lawyer called the police.

"That was a stupid move, Mr. Jounouchi," he continued to him, his eyes, as cold as ice, "I am one of the most powerful men in Japan. I have protection wherever I go. Because of your stupid move, your chances of gaining custody for your daughter are virtually impossible now. No one's gonna let you take your daughter after trying to stab an innocent man."

"No!" he barked, trying to break free from the grip around him, "That girl is mine damnit!"

Just then, the police arrived to arrest and take him away.

- - -

Shizuka cried tears of joy over what had just happened outside. She wished she were well enough to have seen the whole thing, but hearing it was good enough.

"Look's like Kaiba won for ya!" Anzu smiled.

Seto entered the room, giving Shizuka his trademark grin. Judging from Shizuka's smile and tears, she had just heard what had happened outside of her room.

"Seto! Thank you so much! I am in your debt!" she cried to him.

"No need to thank me," Seto said, "I told you I wouldn't let you go back to that idiot without a fight."

"He is one, isn't he?" Anzu commented, "I never liked him."

"Shizuka," he said to her, "You know that now, you're going to be living with me, right?"

"Um, yes," Shizuka replied, blushing.

Seto noticed her face, and he got a bit embarrassed himself. He cleared his throat before continuing.

"Don't get any wild ideas," he continued, "I have arranged for you to live in my guest house. You'll have maids, servants, and a personal chef for your use twenty four-seven. You wont see me much, because I have important work to do."

"That's perfectly fine," she smiled, "You don't have to do this for me."

Seto was scaring himself with all of this generosity. She was right, he didn't have to do anything for her. But, he wanted to give her a better life. He wanted to give her a life away from the control freak Jounouchi, and give her a calm, peaceful place to recover from losing her mother. Seto remember when his parents died several years ago. The memories almost overcame him when he suddenly turned to his lawyer.

"We need to settle the rest of this case in court." He concluded.

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba," the lawyer replied, "I've already made an appointment to go to the courthouse in about an hour."

"What are we waiting for then?" he asked, "Let's go."

The two men nodded and walked out of the hospital, with the two bodyguards following them.


	18. Rumors and Fantasy

After The Dueling (working title)

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -

Chapter 18: Rumors and Fantasy

_Author's Note: This begins the "R" rated material. There is a small section of this story with "detail". Enjoy -_

_This all must be a dream. Here I am in a huge mansion all to myself. Right across the backyard…or rather the pavilion, is Seto Kaiba's home. The one who I…secretly yearn for…but he'd never give me the time of day…my brother killed out mother out of selfishness and I will never forgive him…oh Seto…you've given me more than I deserve and for that I…oh what are you doing? He's leaning in to…_

"Wake up!" a voice barked at the sleeping Shizuka. Seto Kaiba was not going to tolerate her intolerable record in school any longer. She was doing poorly in her schoolwork, and Kaiba refused to let her fall without slapping some sense into her first.

"It's been only a month since you've moved here. You've had every comfort possible while mourning for your mother. I've taken you under my wing to protect you from your father. And how do you repay me? With failing grades in school? This is unacceptable. As your guardian, I will not tolerate this anymore. Starting RIGHT NOW, we're straightening up your act!"

_Shizuka sat up in silence, simply staring at him. She had just woken up from her pleasant romance dream, and was thrusted back into a reality that Seto barked at her about. The guilt that she had felt the previous day came rushing back to her. She knew that her failing grades were giving him a bad name as a legal guardian. He had worked so hard to earn his position, she felt she didn't even deserve to have him as her guardian._

"Well what are you waiting for?" Kaiba snapped again, "Get up! I've brought you a professional tutor to help you with your studies and grades."

"Yes, Seto," Shizuka replied as she slowly got out of bed. As Seto tapped his foot impatiently, he watched her climb out of bed. The covers rolled off her legs and showed a glimpse of her panties underneath her dress. She pulled down the dress and Kaiba quickly looked up, only to find he had been caught in the act.

"S-Seto please don't do that!" she blushed a bright red, "I feel violated…"

"J-just finish getting ready!" he said, blushing just as red as she was, "I have to get going to work." With that, he walked out her bedroom.

After he had closed her door, he began "adjusting himself" in the pants to make sure he wasn't getting aroused at that moment. Unfortunately, he was.

_"Shit!" he thought to himself as he stepped outside to head back to his home, "This is the third time this has happened. First when she came over for dinner that night and I was looking down her shirt. Then there was that time I picked her up from the school and she had ripped part of her skirt…I could see her whole thigh and butt…DAMNIT! She's caught me all three times! What the hell is wrong with me? You sick, sick, sick, sick, sick fucking bastard! Son of a bitch! Perverted fucker! You-"_

"Mr. Kaiba, is everything alright?" his bodyguard asked as he joined him.

"Everything's fine," Seto replied, "I need to use the restroom before I leave."

"We'll be waiting, sir," he said as he left.

_"Shizuka…let me take you now,"_

_"Seto…I…"_

_She couldn't protest as he grabbed her, gently spread her legs, and took her innocence as they stood against the wall. She was overcome with ecstasy as the man of her dreams was inside of her. He was thrusting every inch of his manhood within her at a steady pace while panting in her ear. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest, his member driven deep into her glade of pleasure; in this guilty pleasure of taking his late brother's fiancée. But it didn't matter, he was in love with her now and wanted her all to himself…_

"Ms. Shizuka Kawaii!" the teacher exclaimed, "Are you with us in class today?"

Shizuka quickly looked up from the romance novel she was reading, realizing she completely spaced out. She knew the tutor had told her to put full concentration in class, but when she did so, she began to either think of her deceased mother, her father who was probably after her, or Seto Kaiba. So to distract herself, she'd read romance novels. It didn't help that she'd replace the characters with herself and Kaiba in them, but at least it was something to distract herself from her dark thoughts.

"Kawaii, I've had just about enough of your rude behavior!" the teacher continued, "You stand outside of that classroom, sitting with only your legs to support you, until class is dismissed!"

Sighing, she simply stood up and walked outside of class to do as she was told. The other students tried not to laugh, so they wouldn't get in trouble either.

Needless to say, by the end of class Shizuka was ready to collapse from sitting against the wall for nearly twenty minutes. The teacher simply nodded to her and said, "You may go Kawaii…but you will not be spaced out in my classroom again."

"Yes, Mrs. Kodachi," Kawaii replied as she gave a polite bow and began to walk to her next class. As she walked, she felt a hand go on her shoulder and to her surprise she saw it was Seto.

"Seto! You came to school today!" she smiled at him, "I've missed you!"

"Well, the school has requested me to come back due to legal matters," he said, "In other words, I can no longer pay them off to say I've been coming to school everyday like I have for the past month. This school is complete waste of my time…"

"At least you can keep better track of me," she smiled, "You are my guardian!"

Seto didn't respond to that comment. He simply crossed his arms and looked over to her. "You haven't told the whole school about that, have you?"

"Only my friends know," she smiled, "And they're good at keeping secrets."

"They better be, or else," he smirked at her, "I'll see you later, I need to get to class."

"Why was Seto talking to Kawaii?" a girl asked her friend in the crowd.

"Haven't you heard? They're living together now! I think they're a couple!" the friend replied.

"Oh my God! We've got to tell the whole school! I'm so jealous!" another girl chirped.


	19. Time Will Tell

After The Dueling (working title)

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan

Chapter 19: Time Will Tell

By lunch hour, everyone was talking about the rumor of Kaiba and Shizuka living together as a couple. Girls were ranting and crying at Kaiba over how they were more worthy than Shizuka to be his girlfriend, and he just snapped at them, "We're not an item! And I am not interested in dating!"

Honda and Otogi were bummed out because they thought the rumor was true. They knew Kaiba was her guardian, but now they were lovers? "Man this is the worst day of my life," Honda ranted, "I thought I still had a chance." "Yea, right," Otogi replied, "Every time you'd try to make her day, she'd look right through you. When she cried, she'd only let me hold her…"

"I bet that you and her and the real ones secretly going out!" Honda snapped, grabbing Otogi by the shirt, "YOU STOLE HER!"

"No I didn't you fool!" he yelled at him.

"Break it up guys break it up!" the Gym teacher announced.

Anzu and Yugi knew that there was something fishy about this new rumor going around. "Who started this crap, anyway?" Anzu asked.

"I wish I knew," Yugi replied, "It wasn't us, obviously. Jou might have done this, but he's still in prison."

"Jou doesn't gossip," she replied, defending him, "But girls do. I'll try and get to the bottom of this."

With that, she ran off to go gossip with the girls.

"Hey, what's that story about Kawaii and Kaiba?" Anzu asked a group of girls.

"Oh my God, Anzu everyone's talking about it!" a schoolmate replied, "You heard Seto became the guardian of Kawaii Shizuka, right?"

"Who told you this?" she asked.

"I think Honda Hiroto…then I told my friends and they told theirs…you know how it is!"

"Uh huh, so what's the new story?" she inquired, infuriated with Honda in her mind.

"Kaiba and Kawaii live together! They're serious!" she giggled, "Can you believe it? A plain freshman like her and a senior?"

"Uh yea, listen I gotta go tell my friends this hot stuff, otherwise they'll be living under a rock," Anzu smiled.

"No problem!" the girl smiled at her.

After school, Anzu was giving Honda a beat down.

"You MORON!" Anzu shouted at Honda Hiroto.

"MY EAR!" he shouted back.

"You weren't supposed to tell anyone about Kaiba becoming Shizuka's guardian!" she snapped.

"I told one friend! One friend!" he cried.

"That one friend told the whole fucking school, jerk off!"

"Sorry! I thought I could trust them!" he replied.

"I'm never telling anything to Honda again," Shizuka said, shaking her head, "Seto's gonna kill me now…"

"If he lays one finger on you, call the police," Anzu said.

"I'll go with you to talk to Kaiba," Yugi chimed, "It's not your fault, this rumor was started by other girls."

"No thanks, Yugi," she smiled at him, "I need to go talk to him myself. He's my guardian."

Yugi frowned in disappointment. If he was taller like the other boys, she would probably let him tag along. A shrimp like him wasn't much comfort to a girl who was speaking to a tower of a man.

"If you hadn't even planted the idea of us living together, this rumor would have never happened!" Kaiba exclaimed as he, Mokuba, and Shizuka drove in his limousine, "Don't trust those fools again, with any personal information. They are obviously unreliable friends!"

"It was just Honda who told!" she defended, "No one else said a word."

"It doesn't matter, you should trust no one!" he replied, "The only way to get ahead is to rely on your own self. No one's going to help you in this world. They'll only step all over you and leave you for dead."

"That's…not true," she began.

"Yes it is! I've been there before!" he exclaimed, "Anyway, I heard today that you were sent out of class for not paying attention. What don't you understand about how low your grades are! You have to pass! You're not becoming a high school dropout on my watch!"

"I don't want to drop out, Seto!" she replied, "I just can't focus."

"You're not trying hard enough," he said, "You need to try harder."

"Maybe she can't, Seto," Mokuba chimed in, "It's only been a month since her mother died, she's still in mourning-"

"A month is too long!" he snapped, "Three weeks is more than enough to-"

"Don't tell me that it took you only three weeks to recover from our mother's death!" he snapped back.

"You recovered fine!" he replied, "You were just born!"

"I'm talking about you Seto!" he said again.

"That has nothing to do with this!" he barked.

"Yes it does! Put yourself in Shizuka's place for five seconds! Do you think you'd have recovered from the death of someone close to you in a month?"

"Yes, you have to move on," he replied, "You have no choice. To function in society, you need to stay on your feet."

"You're lying to yourself." he said.

"Don't you tell me that!" he barked again, "All I tell is the truth! You can rely on no one, you have to recover quickly before you are wounded! This is the end of the discussion."

"Seto," Mokuba continued.

"I said-!"

"Lower your voice…Shizuka is…" Mokuba pointed to Shizuka who had her head in her knees, crying. Seto grunted, crossing his arms and looking away.

When the three arrived at the Kaiba mansion, Shizuka opened the door from her side and began sprinting away towards the open gates.

"Shizuka, where are you going?" Mokuba asked, concerned.

Kaiba ran from his side of the limo, and caught her by the wrist.

"Let me go!" she sobbed.

"You're not going anywhere," Kaiba said, "You have no where to go."

"I'll find a way!" she exclaimed.

"You're foolish," he replied, "It's not like you're trapped here. You can go anywhere you like with my bodyguards."

"It's not the same," she cried, "It be much better if I was with you. I need someone to talk to, Seto."

"And fuel rumors of us being a couple? Forget it." he snapped, letting go of her and turning his back on her

"If there were no rumors, would that change anything?" she asked.

Kaiba stopped in his tracks. He suddenly felt as if he was running away from a challenge.

_"I never back down from a challenge," he thought to himself, "So why am I pushing myself away from Shizuka? I became her guardian to protect her…and take care of her. I'm not doing any of that. I guess I'm afraid…no I'm **never **afraid. I've been screwing around for long enough. It's time to take real care of her."_

"Fine," he said, "If you want more time to spend with me, you'll get it. But, on the condition of you doing better in school and you don't tell any of your friends about us. Hopefully those rumors will die down by next week. I'll give you another month to get your grades up. If they're not up, things will become exactly the same as they were. I'll work, you'll live in your home, we'll only see each other at school. I'd rather be working than spending time with you, but since I don't want my name becoming any more tarnished than it already is, I will take your request."

"Thank you Seto," she smiled at him, giving him a hug.

"Okay, get off of me please," he said.

"Yes, Seto." she blushed.

"Does this mean Shizuka can come hang out with me in the main mansion now?" Mokuba smiled.

"Yes, she can." he sighed, "Although I know she already has."

"No she hasn't!" Mokuba said.

"Don't lie to me, brother," he said, "She left one of her pink slippers in the living room."

Shizuka blushed, remembering how worried she was over if she'd get in trouble over leaving her slipper there.

"Well, now you can have sleepovers anytime you want, without worrying about getting in trouble!" Mokuba laughed.

"Thanks, Mokuba," she smiled.

"But no more of that until she gets her grades up," Seto included.

"Yes, Seto," Shizuka bowed, "Thank you very much for your generosity."

Seto nodded to her and took out his phone, "Hello? …I'll be right over." he hung up the phone, "Listen, Shizuka, I'll be back tonight. There is a major issue right now at the company. Your tutor will be here in fifteen minutes, in your home." With that, he got into the limo to be driven off.

"I'll tell the tutor to bring studying in the main mansion," Mokuba began, "I always thought it was a stupid idea for you to be living in a separate home. You should be living in the main mansion, with us. Since you are like family to us now."

"Thank you Mokuba, but I don't want to get in trouble with Seto," she said to him.

"He's pushing you away from him," he replied, "But only out of love."

"What?" she asked him.

"It sounds crazy, but that's what he does," Mokuba continued, "He feels as if he's not good enough to be loved or to love. So, he thrusts himself into work and pushes people like me away from him. He is tormented inside. I wish I could help him…but perhaps you…never mind, it's silly."

Shizuka knew what he was trying to say. Perhaps she could get through to him as she had before. But, only time would tell.


	20. In The Heart Blooms A Light

After The Dueling

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -

Chapter 20: In the Heart Blooms A Light (working title)

Shizuka was working the hardest she might have ever worked in school. She wanted to prove to Seto Kaiba that she wasn't giving up on getting an education and that she would not fail him. Sure she had no time to hang out with her friends, but how could you if you were trying to catch up with the class and still be on top of current assignments all at once. She would be so tense and nervous about her grades that she couldn't drift to sleep at night. She would have to read books and notes she wrote in class with Anzu to get drowsy and fall asleep. Her favorite to read was a poem that Yugi wrote for her:

_In the heart_

_Blooms a light_

_Inside the heart_

_Of everyone in sight_

_The light in others _

_Can not fly freely_

_If it is covered_

_With feelings of the dark_

_Light can expressed in_

_Love, hope, inspiration, courage_

_These are the secrets of_

_Letting the good in yourself, win_

_So always remember_

_My dear friends_

_In the heart of us all_

_Blooms a light_

_It may have been amateur, but it made her think of her relationship to Seto. He gave her courage, he inspired her, he gave her hope for new beginnings, and ….the only thing missing was love. She constantly gave him thanks and praise for helping her so much. She remembered only moments before turning in for the night, she spoke to him:_

"Arigatou, Seto, for everything," she said, bowing.

"What with all the thank you's everyday?" Kaiba asked, looking up from his book of data and details, "It's not like you owe me for it."

"But I do though Seto…everyday, I am learning to be more self reliant and ready to face the world," she said, "My family may have been destroyed by my father and my brother…"

"I don't need to hear your speech," Seto said, closing the book and getting up, "Isn't it time you get some sleep? I don't want you falling asleep in class tomorrow because-"

"Well all I'm trying to say Seto is, you've really done a lot for me, and without you I'd be practically stranded in life." she finished.

Seto grunted, "You don't need to kiss my ass to earn my respect."

She moved closer, reached her hand up to his arm and looked into his eyes.

"I mean it, Seto," she said, "Why would I lie to you about anything, especially after all of this time?"

Seto was silent. He hadn't felt anyone touch him in a gentle way for years. Slowly, memories of the past echoed in his mind…but he shut them away, not wanting to give in to surrender. He never surrendered…not even for Shizuka.

"Well, goodnight then," she finally said, taking her hand away and retreating for the night.

Shizuka sighed, lying down in her bed, exhausted. Math equations, English lessons, and more buzzed in her mind from the hours of tutoring. Slowly, but surely she closed her eyes…

As Seto sat on the sofa in the dark with a blank expression on his face, coldness overcame him. He wondered what was happening to him. He had plenty of one-time encounters with women, but no woman ever made him feel like he was missing her.

"Hah!" Seto thought to himself, "Why would I miss anyone? I can be fine alone…"

He then thought of Mokuba. He imagined that he suddenly disappeared in his life. Then it hit him: Shizuka was an important person to him. Whether he liked it or not.

"Shit," he grumbled outloud, lying on his back.

It was true, and he knew it. But, what was he to do with this realization?

"Do nothing," he thought to himself, "You don't want to appear weak…"

"Hey, Seto, you okay?" Mokuba asked, holding a flashlight in his hand.

"Yea," he lied.

"You never sit out here for this long," his brother continued, "By now, you would have either retreated to Kaiba Corp or gone to sleep upstairs."

"I just," he began, "…I've realized…"

"Shizuka is important to you, but you're afraid to tell her," his brother completed.

"Why would I be afraid," he snapped, "I just don't want to be a weak coward."

Mokuba shook his head, "I sometimes wonder if you even care for me anymore, Seto. But it's only because you've forgotten how to show your feelings."

_"I haven't forgotten," he said, "Why should I waste my time doing so?"_

"You'll loose your mind," Mokuba replied, "Seto, listen to me. If you never let Shizuka know how you feel…"

"What do I even say?" Kaiba asked, getting annoyed, "I don't love the girl or anything. So there's nothing to say."

There was a brief silence before Seto lied back down on the couch.

"Even if you did Seto, would you tell that to her?" his brother asked.

"I don't, and I never will," he said, "She's just a little girl to me."

"You do not view her as a child. That's a flat out lie," Mokuba said, getting annoyed himself, "It's no secret that you look at her when she turns your back to you and don't stop until she's completely out of sight."

Silence reigned the room once again as Seto couldn't object. What was he going to do? He had more important things to worry about, like his company, his home, his reputation…but was his brother and Shizuka last on his list? Was this how he wanted things to be? What if one day Mokuba was gone forever in his life…or even Shizuka was taken away by her brother and her bastard of a father.

The voice inside of him began to speak louder now. Why was it coming back to him?

"It might just be hallucinations…" he thought to himself, "I might need to get some sleep…"

But he didn't even feel tired now. He felt awake…but numb. This was the first time in a long time he had felt this way.

"You feel numb, don't you brother?" Mokuba asked.

Seto was silent, and for a moment, he could have sworn he felt his eyes slightly water up. He was losing the battle…he was losing against…himself. But, in the morning, he would be strong all over again. He just needed to sleep, that was all.

"I'm turning in for the night," he said, wiping his eyes just in case he cried, "I'll be fine in the morning."

"Kay," Mokuba said, giving up for now, "'night."

------------------

"_Light in others cannot freely flow, if it is covered by feelings of darkness…" a voice said._

"What?" Shizuka asked, floating in the moon and stars in the sky, "That's not what it said in the poem."

Suddenly, she saw a younger version of Seto trapped in a hourglass. He was on the lower half, completely filled with sand. He looked dead.

"Seto!" she cried, reaching out to him, "Please don't give up!"

Mokuba's hand appeared in the dream now, flipping over the hourglass. As sand slowly left, it left just barely enough room for breathing. Young Seto quickly swam up and gasped for air. He breathed heavily, as tears of relief filled his eyes.

"Seto!" Shizuka cried again, taking a large pole that suddenly appeared. With all the force she could muster, she broke the glass and took the younger, weak Seto in her arms.

"It's okay now Seto, I'm here…" she said.

"Let me go," a grown Seto grumbled.

Shizuka looked down and saw that a grown up Seto had replaced his younger self. Seto had no expression on his face. He was cold, numb and didn't even seem human.

"Let me go, now," he grumbled again.

"No," she said, "Kiss me first."

"Never, I will never love you," he snapped, tears coming to his eyes.

Shizuka had NEVER seen him cry before. The sight of his tears made her freeze.

His tears continued to flow, trickling over his face. He had no expression of sadness, just a numb face.

---------------------

Shizuka blinked open her eyes. She looked outside of her window and it appeared to be a bright, sunny day. Birds were chirping and a butterfly passed her window.

"It was all a dream…" she said to herself.


	21. In Her Arms

After The Dueling

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -

Chapter 21: In Her Arms

Seto awoke feeling exactly the same as last night. He felt numb, inside and out. He didn't want to get out bed and face the world. He felt like it would be all for nothing in the end. But it didn't matter, his top priority was to Kaiba Corporation and getting his work done. He was so close to getting his newest project completed that he couldn't stop now. He didn't want to either.

"Seto Kaiba is not a quitter," he thought to himself, "I wouldn't be where I am today if I had quit anything!"

With that, he managed to climb out of bed and put on his white suit and blue tie.

He went downstairs to find Mokuba and Shizuka chatting and eating breakfast in the kitchen. He used to be annoyed by it, but overtime it had become a custom for him.

"Oh, good morning Seto," Shizuka smiled at him, as always, making sure to look right at him.

"Good morning…" he politely said sitting down.

There was silence as he took the coffee that the cook handed to him every morning. He sipped it, not paying attention to the stares that both his brother and Shizuka gave him.

"Are you okay Seto?" Mokuba asked, "You don't sound well…"

"I'm fine," he replied, not realizing his monotone, "I have to leave for work in about five minutes…"

"Your face…" Shizuka began, realizing it was the same expression she had seen in her dream.

"What about it?" he snapped, still in his same tone.

Shizuka shook her head, not knowing what to say, "Never mind, I guess…"

"If you have something to say, then just say it," he said, "Your insults mean nothing to me."

"No, no! I didn't mean anything bad, Seto," she corrected him, "Your face just looks like you're almost…lifeless."

"Shit!" Seto thought to himself, "Now people can SEE how I feel inside…just like my stepmother…" He flashed back to his younger years:

"What is wrong with you? You look like you've even seen a ghost or have become one," he remembered his stepmother saying.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. He figured there was no point in telling her that it was because he had just finished crying his eyes out and knew there was nothing he could do to reverse anything that had happened in the past several years. He had lost everything: his mother and father, his happiness, his friends at the orphanage…the only thing he had done right was challenge Gozaboru so that he and Mokuba would be well taken care of financially.

"But I could have done this all with or without that bastard," he thought to himself, shaking away his flashback, "I'm sure of it…"

But inside, he knew that if it hadn't be for Gozaboru, he would have been nothing. He would have failed his brother for sure. Or perhaps, it was all inevitable…

"I've had it with this," he thought to himself, as he began to feel dizzy, "My head is killing me now from all this thinking…I just…"

"Seto!" was the last thing he heard before blacking out.

---------

Seto awoke from the darkness feeling a warm hand holding his. He lifted his head and saw that it was Shizuka sitting next to Anzu, Mokuba, and Yugi for support.

"Hey guys, Kaiba's awake!" he heard Yugi announce.

"Oh thank God," Shizuka smiled, crying tears of relief.

He grunted in pain, his head was still hurting. "What the hell happened?" he asked began mumbling, "I was in my home and now…"

Looking around, he saw that he was in a hospital room (top quality, of course).

"Seto, the doctors say you've suffered from dehydration and overexaustion," Mokuba began, "We all thought you were about to drift into a coma for sure. You've been knocked out cold since this morning and it's already the evening."

He couldn't believe it. In fact, he didn't want to believe it. He could spend weeks awake and not suffer at all. How could spending only less than three days awake throw him into a state of exhaustion? Maybe he was working to hard, worrying about Shizuka and he her grades, and his reputation if she failed him…and if he lost her as a result.

"I should just stop worrying then about meaningless drabble," he thought to himself, "I only need to worry about the company."

"Being the vice-president of Kaiba Corp," Mokuba continued, "I will take over working on the company project in place of you. The doctors want you to stay at home, in a stress-free environment for at least two weeks."

"No, it's my duty as CEO of Kaiba Corp to get the project done," Seto objected, "I have-"

"You can't!" Anzu said, "Do you want to really end up in a coma for pushing yourself farther than your own body can take you!"

"This isn't any of your business!" Seto exclaimed, feeling his head pound, "Stay out of it…"

"Relax, Seto, onegai," Shizuka begged him, "Just trust the doctors and do as they ask."

Seto had no only noticed that Shizuka had not let go of his hand this entire time; nor had she hesitated to move closer to him. Oddly enough, he didn't seem to mind. In fact, it made his headache hurt less.

"Well, we better go," Yugi said.

"Yea, I'll go call my mom now to take Yugi and I home," Anzu smiled, "It was nice to be able to talk to you again, Mokuba."

"Same here, hope we can stay in touch," he smiled.

"I'm glad Seto came through Shizuka," Yugi added, "I bet he did it for you."

"Shut up you midget," Seto said, slightly blushing, "Go home, all of you."

Everyone left except for Mokuba and Shizuka. Shizuka let go of Seto's hand, much to his dissatisfaction, and used it to pour him some water.

"The doctors say to keep hydrated and comfortable until they feel you are ready to go home." she explained.

Seto didn't object and took the cup of water and drank it. Mokuba quietly left to converse with the doctors and to give the two privacy.

"Seto, I'm sorry if I've caused you to work so hard-"

"Don't kid yourself," he grunted, "I really don't understand why this happened to me, but I do know that I'm not sitting at home for more than a week!"

"Why do you push yourself so hard, anyway," she asked him, "You've become a top success in your own right so-"

"What do you know," he snapped, "To stay at the top, you need to make sure you're always at the top of your game and ahead of the competition. It's bad enough that my company was stolen by that Dartz just because I got too caught up with the tournaments…"

"But you can't just live your life fighting everyone and everything in sight, Seto," she said, "You'll push away the ones most important."

"All I need in life is my only family, my brother, and that's it," he said, "Even you are replaceable."

She gasped. The words hurt her in a place very deep in her heart. But, then she remembered what Mokuba told her…she had to keep trying and be strong.

"You don't mean that, you liar," Shizuka began, slowing crying.

Seto looked up into her eyes and felt a instant feeling of guilt. He knew what he said was the truth, only that Shizuka was a person he didn't want out of his life.

"You're right," he admitted, feeling so vulnerable with his guard down, "You're an important part of my life too…"

Shizuka couldn't believe he had just said that. The tone he spoke in was gentle, and almost romantic.

"Do you mean that, Seto?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied.

"I-" she began.

Before she realized what else was happening, Seto grabbed her arm, dragged her towards him, and wrapped her in his arms. She sighed, putting her arms around him as well. Seto felt her gentle body press against him and wondered why he had waited so long to hold her again. Deep inside, he had wanted to keep her close to him since he had gotten to know her more. And now, from her reaction, he knew that she had been wanting him too. In her arms, he felt a peace he hadn't felt in years.

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally let him go, smiling at one another. Shizuka then took his hand, and resumed to sitting by his side. But, before pushing back, she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. His eyes widened in shock, staring at her. Shizuka's face was now a scarlet red, and she looked down and held on to his hand. As he slowly registered that Shizuka had just kissed him with her soft lips, he turned a bright red himself.


	22. Could This Be Wrong?

After The Dueling

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Masae Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -

Chapter 21: Could This Wrong

Shizuka's heart would not stop rapidly beating within her chest. She had finally kissed Seto. The thought crossed her mind several times, at many different opportunities, but she could hardly believe she had actually done it. His lips felt so gentle, but freezing cold like ice. The only problem now, was that Kaiba was as silent as the dead.

"Where did this come from?" Seto asked himself, "She..k..kissed me on the lips…oh this is NOT good…I'm a _guardian_ to her…I'm supposed to be a parental figure. It's bad enough previous rumors of us being a couple living together nearly had the courts try and take away my right to be her legal Guardian…"

"Shizuka, this isn't….right," he suddenly blurted out. He stopped himself, looking away from her, still blushing a bright red.

Shizuka felt a knife stab through her heart. How could following her heart be wrong? She even knew he was attracted to her in both a friendly and sexual way. Did he just view her as his second younger sibling? Or, just as a disposable sex toy?

Seto saw the pain in her eyes from what he had just said. He didn't mean he hadn't wanted her to kiss him…

"What I mean," he tried to explain, "Is that we could get into a lot of trouble-"

"I don't care anymore, Seto," she laughed, tears forming in her eyes.

"Don't cry, not over me Shizuka," he said, trying to comfort her, "You do care. You don't know what you're talking about. Even though we've gotten to know each other for the past few months, we should just keep ourselves within

"That's not true!" she continued, "I have gotten to know you a lot more these past months! And, if you would let down your guard more often, you would see that we've grown feelings that could be…"

She decided not to finish, not sure if using a strong word like "love" was right for this moment in time. Although, her heart told her she loved him.

Kaiba was silent, knowing she was right, about whatever "feelings" she was talking about. He was a coward for not letting his guard down to someone he knew well and trusted.

"No! No! Don't let this girl trick you into that same trap," he screamed in his mind, "It's the hospital medicine! This is not like you. You're being irresponsible and stupid…"

Mokuba, regretfully, entered the room after eavesdropping on their whole conversation.

The two both looked over to Mokuba. As they did so, Shizuka wiped her eyes while Seto looked away from her.

"Um, the doctors say that we should come back in the morning after Seto has gotten a good sleep," he began, "Seto needs his rest."

Shizuka nodded. She then got up, and bowed to Seto. "See you tomorrow," she said, slightly smiling at him.

Seto grunted, as he slowly moved over on his side to go to bed.

"See you tomorrow, big brother," Mokuba said, before leaving and closing the door.

The next morning, Shizuka and Mokuba brought Seto back from the hospital. As they exited the limo, Shizuka went to go to her usual guest house. But then, Seto put his hand over Shizuka's back and led her towards the main mansion. It was unexpected, but she welcomed it. She felt a shiver of fire from feeling his strong, powerful hand against her. Mokuba smiled, finally seeing his brother loosening up a bit around Shizuka. He wondered about what had happened the previous night, but decided not to bring it up at the moment.

For the first week, Seto was grumpy from not having any control over his company. Mokuba had assumed control of everything, since he had the key to the company. But as time went by and Shizuka and Seto spent more time together, he began to slowly melt his defenses. They would play chess for hours, then would work on Shizuka's homework with the tutor. Sometimes Shizuka would give the chef a break and cook food for Seto. He thought the food she cooked was pretty good, but preferred his gourmet chef. He didn't complain though, many women he had known had idea how to cook at all.

The second week rolled along, and on the first day…Shizuka was off of school, and it was raining heavily outside.

As the two sat across from each other, he began to look right into her eyes. He also loved to stare at her lips, to look over her body…he had kept the kiss she had given him weeks ago in his mind. It wouldn't leave him; he wanted to go for more than a simple kiss. He wanted a deep kiss, perhaps much more.

She noticed him eyeing her in a wrong way and cleared her throat, while blushing a bright red.

"Please, don't do that to me, Seto. I get so embarrassed," she said.

Not giving a damn, he selfishly grinned. His sexual urges no longer wanted to be suppressed. He wanted, for the first time in years, to cut loose.

"Shizuka, how about we make a deal," he began, "Remember a few weeks ago when you said you 'didn't care' anymore?"

How could she forget? She was so vulnerable and open with her feelings that night she kissed him; and it didn't help that he said it wasn't right.

"Let's say…for today…that _I_ don't care anymore either," he said, an evil look crossing his face.

"Seto…" she said, her heart pounding.

(A.N. I was having a debate about the ending for this chapter..have I stripped Kaiba's barrier's down too quicly now? Please leave your feedback in the reviews...I don't want to unravel his barriers too soon or else all is lost XD But if u all just want to see M rated material then just tell me to keep going XDDDDDDDDD Thanks for reading all! )


	23. Your Touch Is Addicting

**(A.N. After much debate, I've decided to continue the fanfiction "as is", I will not revise any previous chapters, despite negative feedback about how Seto has gotten frisky too soon…since a majority of reviewers have no objections…)**

After The Dueling

A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Setsuko

Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan -

Chapter 23: Your Touch Is Addicting

Seto wasn't sure if it was the lull of the heavy rain, Shizuka's innocent allure, or if he had completely lost his mind. He was on top of her, kissing her deeply and passionately, and he enjoyed every moment.

Shizuka didn't dare to think that Seto was growing aroused…but the more he pressed himself against her while kissing her, she felt shivers of fire grow around her legs and lower body.

"Shizuka," he breathed, lifting himself away from her, "We need to-"

"No, I don't want to stop!" she protested, wrapping her arms around his back.

Seto continued to try and pull away, but feeling her soft breasts against him made his resolve grow weaker.

"I might end up doing something we'll both regret…" he said.

"Seto, please, just kiss me…" she sighed, pressing her lips onto his. Her young fire was growing stronger, not caring or knowing what would happen.

Seto was determined not to let this go any further than deep kissing and fooling around. It was difficult. His body usually never felt this hot, aching, and excited. Not before he knew her. He was trying, with less and less of an effort, to find his way out of this situation.

Shizuka daringly began to explore Seto's body. She started with rubbing his back, then made her way towards his rear. She giggled when he snapped open his eyes and stopped their kiss.

"I thought you weren't going to care, today?" she teased him, "What happened with that?'

"Shizuka…you don't have any idea what this is doing to me-"

"I wasn't born yesterday," she smiled, blushing, "I've been feeling it against my body…"

He smirked at her. He decided to take advantage of his situation and quickly grabbed her breasts which caused her to take in a sharp breath.

"Seto!" she exclaimed.

He rubbed her breasts up, down, and around while he tightened and released his grip over them.

She never knew Seto's hands could drive her so wild. Nor did she know how confusing all of his sexual advances and feeling his arousal would make her feel. She couldn't deny how much she wanted him to rip off her shirt and bra and to feel his touch against her bare skin.

"Shizuka," he whispered, kissing her softly on her lips and then finally breaking away from her. It took all of his remaining willpower not to turn back and look at her. He didn't want to be enveloped in her arms again,

Shizuka sat up, hot, bothered, and confused while Kaiba retreated upstairs covering his pants with his jacket. She blushed madly, frowning. She wasn't sure what she had done wrong, but would make sure to talk to Kaiba about what had happened later.

Seto relieved and calmed himself in his shower, his lustful state slowly disappearing. If he hadn't stopped himself, he would have tried to take her innocence.

"That would have been a mess," he thought to himself, "It's already been taken a step too far. I'm her Guardian, and…"

He sighed, changing the water temperature to a cooler one.

"What do I say to her after this? What does she think of me now? Or worse, what if we get into that situation again? No…I can't let it happen. What is going on with me…?"

He slowly turned off the water, then went over to grab his towel to dry off and get dressed.

When he came back downstairs, he wasn't surprised to find that Shizuka had left the mansion. He had humiliated her, even after she had given him a clear invitation to make his advances. He continued down the stairs and went over to the kitchen to brew some decaf coffee.

"But, I don't want to make my advances on someone who is, by law, part of my family," he thought to himself, not daring to speak it out loud, "And I don't want to give her false hopes that I would ever commit to her. As soon as she's eighteen, I'm revoking my Guardianship…"

As soon as the thought crossed his mind of having to let her go, his mood became depressive. As he watched his coffee drip, he felt himself grow numb. He couldn't deny it, he didn't want to even remotely think of letting Shizuka go for even a moment. He couldn't fool himself, he wasn't sure what was going to happen when she turned eighteen in two years. As he poured his coffee, he heard a noise from behind him. He snapped his gaze over, and to his surprise saw that it was Shizuka. He relaxed his gaze, turning back to his coffee.

"I'm surprised you're still here." he said.

"Yeah," she trailed.

There was an awkward silence as Seto finished pouring his coffee and went to sit by the counter. He pulled the black, metal stool over towards him which made a scratching noise against the tile. The noise was accentuated by the silence in the room.

"Great now I have to get that fixed…", he mumbled, sitting down.

Shizuka had the sneaking suspicion that maybe she should just leave and go back into her guest home. However, she didn't want him just using her for his flights of fancy either. She wanted to make sure that he knew that it wasn't a flight of fancy for herself, either.

"Seto…"

"Yes?" he asked in a cold, tense tone, sipping his coffee.

"What if I told you…well…" she reached out for him and touched his arm, "The real, main reason why I was falling behind in classes?"

He froze a moment and then set his coffee down on the counter.

"What is the point of this?" he snapped, moving her hand away from him, "The rain has stopped, Shizuka-"

"No it-"

"Don't interrupt me!"

She quickly turned away from him, her heart racing. She had not meant to anger him, and was more confused than ever.

He put his elbows onto the counter and ran his hands through his hair, moaning in aggravation. He was too proud to apologize for what had happened in the living room moments ago, however he was debating if it was the right thing to do. He had begun thinking of a million excuses when she continued her explanation.

"Seto I would, and still kind of do, daydream about you in class…"

"Wait…what?" he asked, snapping his gaze over to her. It was his turn to be the one that was confused.

"I mean…they weren't daydreams of innocent things let's just say…" she blushed furiously, struggling to continue, "For example…um…I…would…umm…read a novel…"

As she continued to ramble, he turned himself all the way over towards her. He looked at her and saw how red her face was, and realized what types of 'daydreams' she was having.

"I'm surprised you don't fantasize about those losers you hang out with."

"N-n-no Seto, they're just friends," she stammered.

"What do I care what they are to you?"

"Seto!" she exclaimed, not being able to be so modest anymore. He arched his eyebrow at her, growing more and more confused.

She had to lay it all on the line.

"What I'm trying to tell you is, don't think I just want you and I to just fool around just for the thrills! If you want to do that with me, then just go through with it!"

She clenched her fists, trying to calm down. It wasn't working.

"If not, then don't touch me! It should be all or nothing! Because your touch is so addicting, and drives me crazy, and makes me scream, and makes my heart race and I just…"

She decided to stop there. The look of shock on Seto's face mortified her. He was disgusted with her. He really did only want to use her for random thrills. She just knew it.

She teared up and sprinted away towards the guest house.

She slammed the door open, and saw that Mokuba was just heading up the driveway.

"Hey…Shizuka? What's wrong?" he called out, his voice growing from cheerful to concerned.

She ignored him, continuing to sprint away.


	24. Even After Years Gone By

After The Dueling A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Setsuko Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan

Chapter 24: Even After Years Gone By

Two years passed, and there wasn't a day that went by when neither Seto nor Shizuka could forget that rainy day. The two kept busy, Shizuka diving into her schoolwork and landing the honor roll while Seto dueled constantly and worked over-time, rarely returning home. They would occasionally dine together with Mokuba who could sense tension between them. He had given up hope, his brother was never going to come around.

The eve before Shizuka's birthday, she decided it was time to find out once and for all about how Seto felt about her. Her heart racing for the first time in a long time, she knocked and then entered the mansion's doors. Seto was passed out on the couch, while Mokuba was in the kitchen.

"Oh, hey Shizuka. What's up?"

"Oh I wanted to…talk to Seto…"

"I'll head upstairs, so you two can talk in private."

"W-wait Mokuba-"

"No, it's okay Shizuka. I know you two haven't had much time for each other so…"

Shizuka blushed as Mokuba smiled, then headed upstairs.

She looked over to Kaiba, who was dead asleep. His eyes looked as tired as ever, she wondered how many days he had been going for without sleep. Over the past two years he was colder and crankier than ever. She never regretted that day they were in each other's arms, that daringly close. Today it was all or nothing, if he refused to agree to her request then they would have to remain friends and she would have to move on.

Suddenly Seto's eyes snapped open. He had been having a nightmare again, although he couldn't remember what it was. It was probably stress, as usual. He would have to schedule his once a month indulgence to the day spa, soon. To his surprised, Shizuka was sitting nearby.

"What is it?" he mumbled, half asleep, "What do you want?"

"Seto my birthday is tomorrow and…" she paused, trying to stay calm and collected, "I wanted to ask you something…"

He sat up slightly, still feeling groggy. He hated sleeping for too long, it always made him feel tired.

She couldn't help it, she started to tear up as she continued, "Please drop the Guardianship through the courts as soon as you can. I want to be with you, Seto."

He stared at her, surprised she still had feelings for him. He was certain the past two years had torn them apart…or at least her, from him.

"Please, Seto!" she cried, shaking, "Otherwise, I just can't live like this with you anymore! My heart is breaking…"

"No…" he said, rushing over to her side, "You can't leave me, Shizuka. I can't let you go back out there where your brother will be in the waiting."

She had completely forgotten. Jounouchi was due to come out of prison in a few more months.

"No, I wouldn't go to him-"

"Where would you go?"

"That's not the point, Seto!"

"Just stay with me. We can figure this out…I mean…this is a lot to ask of me," he lowered his voice, "To…marry you."

She put her hand over her mouth, never in her wildest dreams imaging Seto would even suggest that. She hadn't even meant to suggest that, but didn't want to deny it either. She didn't know what to say, so she stayed silent.

"Would you really tolerate me being at work all the time and maybe being," he cleared his throat, "intimate with you once a month…"

She blushed madly, not caring about how often they made love but how good it would be and how much they would bond together each time.

"That day…a few years ago…before we started…"

"What about it?" she asked.

"I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I would have taken you."

She blushed, growing even hotter underneath her clothes. She started to unbutton her shirt, not being able to hold back her feelings anymore.

"N-No, Shizuka…" he stuttered, reaching for her hand.

She gently took his hand and had him rub over her breast under her shirt. She took in a sharp breath and moaned gently, loving the feeling of his touch over her again.

"Shizuka…" he whispered, grabbing her and smothering her with kisses. It was long overdue, their passionate kisses, and they both enjoyed every minute of it.

They paused, and Seto took her hand to lead them upstairs.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Seto threw Shizuka down on his bed.

As he deeply kissed her, Shizuka gently tugged onto his hair. They temporarily broke off their kiss so they could start taking off each other's clothes. Seto's suit jacket was very easy to slip off, and his shirt slipped right over his slender frame. Before Seto ripped off her shirt off in aroused frustration, she quickly helped him unbutton. Shizuka made a mental note to buy more non-button down shirts for when she went to see him from now on. Of course, she would have to wear them for school but other than that it was unnecessary.

Seto shut down her needless thoughts while caressing her breasts, which were becoming tender and sensitive. He kneeled over and starting licking and suckling on her nipples, which caused her to cry out in pleasure. He slipped his hand under her uniform skirt and began to pleasure her sacred flower. He nearly sent himself over the edge when he felt how aroused she was. He wanted so badly to just take her right then, but knew with Shizuka that he had to take his time to make sure she was ready. He could hear her flinch when he inserted a second finger.

"It's going to hurt a lot more than that later…" he warned her.

"No, just ignore me. It feels so good, keep going."

He listened to her wishes and continued.

The bittersweet pain of feeling that sharp pain and arousal at the same time drove her crazy and she wanted it to continue, even as the pain got worse and worse.

"Please, more, please," she moaned.

He could deny her, he knew what would happen if he continued, but he inserted another finger obeying her wishes.

About a few minutes passed and finally Shizuka's virginity broke.

She yelped in pain, tears coming to her eyes.

Seto shushed her, kissing her and rubbing over her flower gently.

"I'm going to be generous today."

He started rubbing her thighs and legs, working his way up to her waist. Then he gently rubbed her stomach, breasts, and back down to her legs.

He was doing a hell of a lot of work just to fulfill his carnal urges. He began to feel impatient.

Shizuka couldn't believe how painful it was to lose her virginity. She could still feel the stinging. However, she was not wanting to deny Seto what he deserved: to be inside of her. But she was so scared of how much it was going to hurt when he inserted himself into her.

"It's not going to help if you are so tense, Shizuka," he protested, "I should have stopped before getting carried away…"

"Maybe it helped?"

"It hasn't helped me!" he snapped.

"Well maybe…" she hesitated, embarrassed to even suggest what she had just thought of.

"What?"

"Maybe I could try…"

Before she could finish, Seto was attempting to have Shizuka give him a boob job.

"N-no!" she protested, "I meant with my mouth!"

He stopped, watching her as she began to look at his member.

She stared at his member for the first time. It felt so warm and hard between her two breasts. Her heart started racing, her body feeling so much arousal at one time.

"You wont be able to take it," he grinned, loving how she was admiring his member, "You couldn't handle him."

"Let me try."

He grinned mischievously.

"No I really think-"

"I can, let me try…"

"Fine," he smirked, not remembering when he had last gotten 'special services'.

Seto greedily moved up towards her face and put his dong into her mouth, gently thrusting in and out.

She moaned in protest, but he ignored her momentarily until she took it out. He let her readjust herself so she was sitting up on the bed, then he motioned it back in her mouth.

She started to gag, so he stopped, annoyed, then helped her move her hands where he wanted them on his member. Shizuka put it back in her mouth, feeling so dirty and wrong and not having a clue what to do.

"Let me show you…" he sighed.

He gently put his hand behind her head, motioning her back and forth.

She put her hand over his shaft so he wouldn't shove too much into her mouth at once. It was strangely pleasurable, doing this for him. Of course, he was having more fun that she was.

He barely had to do a thing except keep his hand over her head, and through her hair, as she got into the rhythm of what he wanted.

"Shizuka…" he whispered, growing more and more pleasured.

As she felt him use both hands to guide her, she focused on pleasuring him to distract herself from mixed messages her mouth and lips were giving her. Her mouth was getting sore, but didn't want to stop and disappoint him. She sometimes gagged, having to take him out of her mouth and then she would try again.

"Shizuka this isn't working, I need to take you."

"I'm still sore…" she protested.

"Finish the job!" he ordered, "I wouldn't; take this long to make you cum."

She frowned, embarrassed and annoyed.

"What I mean is…"

"No, you said what you mean," she stopped him, "Fine. I'll 'finish the job'."

She slid him back into her mouth, pulling back and forth with her hand and sucking as much as she could.

He moaned, breathing erratically. That was exactly how he liked it. It was only a few moments before he finally reached his climax.

"Shizuka…" he moaned.

She took his seed in, and then swallowed it. It was an interesting taste that she couldn't really describe.

He joined her to cuddle. She truly was beautiful from head to toe.

"I told you I could do it." She giggled, feeling so naughty.

He smirked at her back, not being able to disagree.

"You're lucky I was born on midnight, otherwise you would have slept with a minor."

"It wouldn't have mattered, you and I both have wanted each other for the longest time…" he trailed.

"H-How long?" she blushed.

"I'll let you figure that out for yourself…"

She remembered all of the time she had caught Seto looking at her inappropriately, and knew her answer.

"I can't wait to marry you-" she partially joked.

"Wait a second!" he protested, "There is definitely no rush on that, Shizuka!"

"I'll wait until I have graduated next year maybe?"

"I haven't even bought the ring yet! And where the hell is the ring you bought for me?"

"I never said I wanted to marry you, you put that idea out there."

"Nonsense," he denied, blushing.

"Well…I'll wait for you to propose then. Since I never proposed that will give you a chance…"

"Fine. I'll know if and when the time is right," he said, "Don't press the issue though, or I'll never commit!"

"You were the one who put the idea out there!"

"What else does 'I want to be with you' mean?" he asked.

She giggled.

"Basically everything we have just done."

"So you want to love me and leave me, eh?"

"No, never leave," she purred, cuddling closely to Seto.

Seto Kaiba knew he had officially gone insane for Shizuka Kawaii. Or, in another few years time, Shizuka Kaiba. He would have to first get the Guardianship revoked, then get his head together and find a ring for her while keeping their relationship low-key, and then deal with pre-nuptials…

"Seto, can I move into the mansion with you after you revoke my guardianship?"

"The paparazzi will have a field day with that one." He replied.

"Well maybe I can live in the guest house and in the mansion? Work in the guest house on class work and studies, then later in the evening I can come in like I did tonight?"

"Not every night, I'll have to get an availability chart for you each week."

"I could hang out with Mokuba."

"Do as you will…" he trailed, "It's very hard for me to say no to you because…I love you Shizuka."

"Love you too," she purred as she rested her head on his chest.

They both feel asleep next to one another until the morning.


	25. Finally It Starts to Come Together

After The Dueling A Seto x Shizuka fanfiction by: Dena Setsuko Yu Gi Oh is © To Kazuki Takahashi and this story is in no way affiliated with him or the official Yu Gi Oh© series. It's simply a fan work of a obsessed Yu Gi Oh© fan

Chapter 25 On The Day Of Jou's Freedom

*Author's note: Just to keep facts straight, I am aware the some chapters list Shizuka was being a "Freshman" when she was in high school. I apologize for the error, she was actually a Sophomore at the beginning of the story and is now a senior.

HEADLINE STORY: SETO KAIBA + SHIZUKA KAWAII= MORE THAN FAMILY

The Domino Enquirer has speculated for years that Seto Kaiba and his "daughter" Shizuka Kawaii were more than just guardian and daughter. After reversing his guardianship to Shizuka, the DOMINIO ENQUIRER has exclusive sources telling us the real story.

"It was bizarre enough how he managed to achieve guardianship when he only a few years her senior," the source tells us, "And now that she is eighteen, it is obvious from him dropping the guardianship that he is no longer wanting to hide behind a charade." "Shizuka and Seto met when Shizuka was a Sophomore (now a senior) at Domino High while Seto was a Senior (now graduated)" A student who attends Domino High tells us, "They had a connection from day one. All of the ladies were jealous; some even bully Shizuka to this day. She doesn't let it affect her though. She distracts herself and dives into her studies." According to another source, it is only a matter of time before Seto proposes to her. "She has been moved from the guest home in the Kaiba residence to the main mansion. She studies in the guest home, but moves to the main mansion in the evenings." The DOMINIO ENQUIRER speculates that Seto may have revoked his Guardianship status due to an unplanned pregnancy. This has not been confirmed. Our source adds, "It will only be a matter of time before they elope and we hear the pitter patter of feet." Representatives for Seto Kaiba had no comment. Kaiba Corp released this statement: "Seto Kaiba's mission as CEO of Kaiba Corp is to focus on products for computer engineering as well as Duel Monsters. We can assure the public that nothing will detract Mr. Kaiba from that goal. Thus, we have no comment on his personal life."

Jounouchi was enraged after reading the cover story. How could his sister stab him in the back and run off with his sworn enemy, Kaiba? It was probably why she never contacted him in prison. It had to have been. They loved each other as brother and sister too much to ever let an accidental death tear them apart.

"Hey there, you okay?" a familiar voice asked.

He looked up and saw his ex-girlfriend, Mai. She, Anzu, Honda, and Yugi were the only people that had kept in contact with him during his stint in prison.

"M-Mai.." he teared up, running into her arms. He quickly broke the hug off.

"So sorry, Mai," he said, "I've just been through hell and-"

She pecked him on the cheek.

"You don't have to apologize Jou," she smiled at him, "I'm glad you're finally out."

He wasn't sure what all of this meant. He didn't want to set himself up for heartache, so he didn't ask why his ex girlfriend was pecking him on the cheek for.

"Shizuka hasn't contacted me since I left for prison."

"Your mother's death really affected her…from what I've heard."

"Who are your sources?"

"Anzu. We meet up for coffee and girl talk."

"D-does she really hate me that much?"

"That's another reason why I'm here. We need to talk. I need to tell you as much as I can about what has happened."

They went down to SaveBucks Coffee and Mai paid for everything.

"Okay, so," she began, sitting down, "You start first. What's on your mind?"

"Well my dad's dead..."

"W-what did you say?" she gasped, taken aback.

"Yeah, my dad pissed off the wrong guys. They killed him in the yard during exercise hour. I mean, he wasn't the best dad out there. But he was ours…"

"I'm so sorry."

He was silent, not wanting to bring out his grieving at that moment.

"How is Shizuka?"

"Shizuka is happy," Mai answered, "She's been living with him the entire time you've been in jail."

"I know, its all over the Domino Enquirer."

"O-oh..." she trailed, "I thought you'd be a lot more upset."

Jou slammed his fist down on the table.

"Of course I'm pissed off! It's a stab in the back!" he snapped.

The staff and customers began to grow uncomfortable and whisper among themselves.

"Is everything alright over here?" an employee asked, concerned for Mai.

"Everything's fine, we'll be on our way..." she laughed, motioning for Jou to stand up so they could leave.

When they had stepped outside near the last table and chair outside of the coffee shop, Jou continued his tirade.

"It's a fucking stabbing in the back and you know it Mai!"

"Well maybe if you hadn't been such a control freak and had let the girl date him in the beginning-"

"You shut the fuck up!"

"I'm not putting up with this attitude from you, just coming from jail or not!" she snapped, frustrated with him, "Get outta my sight!"

She turned, storming off from him.

He started to tear up as she walked away from him, and then he ran. He was running to nowhere. It didn't matter where he went; he was cursed from the day Shizuka had gotten involved with Kaiba. It had to be the reason.

When he ran out of breath, he looked up and realized he was in front of the Game shop. He couldn't take the overflow of emotions, he sat on a near park bench and cried his eyes out.

At around six o'clock, Yugi approached the Game shop, exhausted from College studies and intimate time with Rebecca. She was a lot of work, since she barely moved. But the way she moaned when he inserted himself inside and outside of her drove him to the edges of ecstasy.

His perverse thoughts were interrupted when he saw Jounounchi sniffling near a park bench.

"J-Jounounchi?" he exclaimed, shocked.

Jou looked up, startled. He had thought for sure Yugi was living elsewhere being a college student and famous Duelist.

"I-I thought you were being released tomorrow! I'm sorry, I would have come over to pick you up!"

"I-it's okay buddy," he grinned, sniffling away his snot, "It's so good to be free man!"

They both hugged each other, happy that they were finally reunited.

Seto entered the mansion, thrilled he had finally completed his project and broken the source code in the inscriptions. The only slight disappointment was that now he had to keep his word to Shizuka. Although, tonight was the night for the two of them to have sex, properly, for the first time. He called her up to let her know he was heading home, then got into his limo.

As soon as he got home, he entered the mansion and noticed that the lights were dimmed. He saw a card on the counter, and went to open it.

"Mokuba is spending the weekend at Anzu's so we have the entire mansion to ourselves-"

Seto tried not to grind his teeth in annoyance. Mokuba was free to do as he wished but he didn't know why he would want to entertain that Anzu. He continued reading:

"When you're finished reading this, come upstairs."

He tapped his pocket, making sure he had the condoms with him. He did have them and now was prepared.

Shizuka's heart was racing as she heard him race up the stairs. She knew it was her cue to stand up and put her hands on her hips in some kind of seductive posse.

The bedroom was lit in candlelight with soft music in the background. He looked over her, feeling himself grow aroused almost instantly when he saw she was wearing skin tight, sheer lingerie leaving nothing to the imagination. All he had to do was rip off those two little pieces of cloth and she was his. She shyly walked over to him and leaned up to kiss him. Seto led them to his bed, tossing her on her back then quickly getting on top of her. He took out the pack of condoms he had picked up and tossed them nearby on the bed.

"You better beg me for this," he smirked, wanting to make her work for him.

"No, I want you to beg for me," she chuckled, playing along with him as she grabbed his hardened member, "You're not even undressed yet and you're throbbing."

"S-so what?" he grinned, glad that she was playing along with him, "I bet you're throbbing more."

On cue, her clitoris throbbed yet again.

"You know I could just do this my way," he continued, rubbing his erection near her crotch, causing her to moan, "Unless you beg me to lick and suckle you...then we can do this your way."

"No," she moaned, really wanting him to suckle, lick, and then penetrate her so badly.

"Beg," he gently commanded her, growing more and more aroused with each sigh and moan she uttered.

"Seto," she whispered while rubbing her nipples, "Please do your worst with me I want you so badly."

He didn't need to be asked twice. He ripped off her panties and started to deeply lick and suckle her womanhood. He snuck a finger up her rear end which caused Shizuka to yelp.

"Seto!"

"Shut up." he said, looking up at her, then resuming what he was doing before.

The mixture of pleasure and discomfort was a new feeling for her, but decided to go with it. He began to finger and lick a certain spot that really turned her on and she gasped in pleasure.

He stopped briefly, putting the condom on his member. He barely had his pants off of his legs as he dived into her. She felt his warm, hard member inside of her which gave her pleasure.

He thrusted in a steady rhythm, gradually increasing his tempo until he fit inside of her as deeply as he could go. He thrusted as quickly as he could without coming too quickly.

"Seto!" she cried as she started to reach her climax. She took in a sharp breath and let the climax take her as they both came together.


End file.
